Onto Game Seven

10.19.2008
RED SOX DEFEAT RAYS 4-2; SERIES TIED 3-3

Jason Varitek’s first hit of the post-season keeps Sox World Series hopes alive for another day
Jon Lester takes the hill in do-or-die Game 7

(October 18, 2008) – It is Rivalry Weekend.

With Boston College hosting their former Big East and current ACC rival the Virginia Tech Hokies, the Eagles found themselves down 10-0 early, it made Superfans question whether they should have stayed home and watched Game Six. But if there were at home they would have been just as angry at TBS as they were at quarterback Chris Crane in the first quarter.

Due to a power-outage in Atlanta, TBS sent all of Red Sox Nation into a frenzy. Living room phones were ringing off the hook as everyone was in disbelief about what was happening. But as soon as the lights came on, so did the Red Sox bats against Big Game James Shields. After B.J. Upton, gave the Rays the early 1-0 lead but Kevin Youkilis would get that run back for Josh Beckett with solo-blast to left to lead-off the top of the second.

Just as Crane was bringing the High Flyin’ Eagles of Chestnut Hill back from a 10-0 hole, Youkilis was bringing the Sox back from the brink of the elimination. In the top of the third, Dustin Pedroia drew a four pitch walk from Shields before David Ortiz drove a line drive just out of the reach of Carlos Pena at first for a double, sending Pedroia to second. Youkilis came through once again by putting the bat on the ball and grounding out to Jason Bartlett at shortstop to drive home Pedroia from third.

The Rays would eventually came back to tie up the game in the fifth inning on Bartlett’s first RBI of the post-season when he lifted a homerun solo-homerun to left center to tie the game at two a piece. The light hitting but sure handed shortstop had just one round-tripper on the season but he came through for Tampa Bay when they needed it most. But the lead would be short lived as another unexpected hero came through in the clutch – this time wearing the visiting greys.

Coming into Game Six, Jason Varitek was 0-for-12 in the ALCS against the Rays and in his previous two at-bats were nothing to write home about but it was his third plate appearance of the night that brought Sox fans to their feet. After which Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura made tremendous play jumping up and robbing Mark Kotsay of a base hit and then Shields catching Jed Lowrie staring blindly at strike three, a collective groan from Sox fans world wide could be heard with Varitek stepping to the dish.

Good things happen when you always seem to least expect them. How many fans can honestly say they expected Varitek to take Shields deep to give the Sox the lead once again and ultimately win the game? If you said you did then you are lying. Varitek’s barely made it over the right center field fence but it does not matter if it was 502 feet or lands in the first row of the seats (a la Varitek’s), it all counts for the same thing.

Although Beckett did not have his best stuff he was much more effective than his first start, in Game Two, against Tampa Bay. After giving up eight runs on nine hits in his first start, the Sox fireball right hander cut his earned runs by three-quarters while allowing four hits, walking three and striking out three. In the other dugout, Shields was something other than Big Game James, where the Rays Ace went 5.2 innings allowing three earned runs on nine hits while walking three and striking out three.

When the bullpen was the weakest link for the Sox in the first four games and for the Rays in Game Five, it turned out to be the strongest in last night. Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson and Jonathan Papelbon combined to keep the Rays batters off balances while allowing just one walk and three strike outs. The Rays bullepn was just as strong as they kept Sox batters guessing by allowing one hit (against J.P. Howell) while walking three and striking out one.

For the second consecutive year, the Sox force a Game Seven in the ALCS after being down 3-1 to begin the series. They will send Jon Lester, who hopes to rebound after his worst outing of, realistically, the year when he went 5.2 innings allowing five runs – four earned – on eight hits while walking two and striking out seven last Monday. The Rays will send Matt Garza to the hill in hopes that he can match his Game Three performance, where he went six innings allowing just one run while scattering six hits, walking three and striking out five.

But do not count the Rays out. When their backs are against the wall they have come through in the clutch themselves. In September, with the division on the line in Fenway Park, the Rays took two of three from the Sox.

RED SOX 4, RAYS 2

WIN: Josh Beckett

LOSS: James Shields

SAVE: Jonathan Papelbon

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Top 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Jason Varitek, BOSTON --- 1-4 HR, RBI
2. Coco Crisp, BOSTON --- 3-4 Run-scored
3. B.J. Upton, TAMPA BAY --- 1-4 HR, RBI

Drew Comes Through, Again!

10.17.2008

RED SOX STORM BACK AGAINST RAYS TO WIN 8-7; RAYS LEAD SERIES 3-2

J.D. Drew prolongs Red Sox season with Game-Winning base hit to right to cap off an 8-7 win

(October 16, 2008) – Remember when your teachers would tell you even if you forget your homework one day just turn it in the next because it is “better late than never.” Well that is apparently the philosophy the Red Sox live by in the ALCS.

J.D. Drew is quickly become a Red Sox folk hero. After coming through with a two-run homerun earlier in the game to bring the Sox within one in the bottom of the eighth, Drew drove in Kevin Youkilis with a line drive base hit over Gabe Gross’s head to prolong the Sox season. Before Drew’s at-bat, Youkilis singled to third and advanced to second on Evan Longoria’s throwing error. The Rays would intentionally walk Jason Bay for the lefty-lefty match-up between Drew and J.P Howell, a decision that Tampa Bay would later regret.

When Joe Maddon pushed Big Game James Shields back a day and gave the ball to the Southpaw Scott Kazmir, the Tampa Bay manager also gave Sox fans an early Christmas present. All season the Red Sox have killed Kazmir pitching so it was almost assured the series would be going back to St. Petersburg with the Rays leading the series 3-2.

But the man who once dominated the Red Sox return to his old form and shut out the Sox for six innings on 110 pitches. In those six innings, he scattered two hits while walking three and striking out seven Boston hitters and it looked like the Tampa Bay was on the road to their first World Series appearance in franchise history. But what was so dependable for the Rays during the season and in the playoffs, the bullpen coughed up the lead like the Patriots defense did in the Super Bowl.

Facing elimination for the second time in two years in the ALCS, the Red Sox had the man they wanted taking the hill against the Tampa Bay Rays. Ironically in the 2008 ALCS, Daisuke Matsuzaka was the only Sox starter that had success against the raging Rays. In Game One Matsuzaka took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and ended up shutting out the AL East Champions to put Boston up in series 1-0. Now, three games later, Matsuzaka was called upon to keep the Red Sox season alive for another day.

It took Tampa Bay six innings to get their first hit off of Matsuzaka in Game One but in Game Five it took Akinori Iwamura just six pitches before he lined a single into right field. Sox fans were out in full force, hoping for another magical come-from behind series victory but with one swing of the bat B.J. Upton, once again, let the air out of crowd with a two run on a 1-1 fastball giving the Rays the early 2-0 lead.

A one-out single up the middle in the top of the third inning by Upton put the “P” in MVP of the ALCS to bring the Rays first baseman, Carlos Pena, to the dish with a man on base. Against Matsuzaka, the Northeastern Alum hit a towering fly ball over Pesky’s Pole and when it came down Tampa Bay had a four-run advantage. The Rays continued their power surge when Evan Longoria went back-to-back with Pena, by depositing a 3-2 offering into the second row of the Monster seats and the collective growns of Red Sox Nation “oh here we go again” could be heard in Framingham.

Matsuzaka retired the next five Ray batters before walking Iwamura in the top of the fifth and turning the ball over to fellow country-man Hideki Okajima. Between the two Japanese pitchers, they retired eight out of 10 Tampa Bay batters since Longoria’s long ball back in the third inning.

Manny Delcarmen came in to begin the seventh inning but did not last long. He was quickly was pulled after walking both Jason Bartlett and Iwamura, back-to-back, in favor of the fire-ball closer, Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon was rudely welcomed into the game when Upton rocketed a double off the corner of the scoreboard in left to drive in Bartlett from second and Iwamura from first to give the Rays the 7-0 advantage.

After a long seventh inning, Maddon opted to go to his bullpen after Kazmir already threw 110 pitches. Tampa Bay had one of the best bullpens in the league this season so it was almost a foregone conclusion that they would continue to dominant by getting the last nine outs of the game to cruise into the World Series. But these are the never say die Red Sox and a double into right by shortstop Jed Lowrie reignited the Fenway Faithful.

Coco Crisp kept the inning alive with a two-out single into center field to bring Dustin Pedroia to the plate and “The Little Pony” came through with a base hit to right field to drive in Lowrie and send Crisp to second. David Ortiz struggled all through the post-season but when the game is on the line and there are runners on-base in the late innings, Ortiz is the man you want up at the plate. And once again he proved it as he launched a shot to the same exact area where Pena’s homerun came down four innings prior.

Papelbon was able to retire the side in order in the top of the eighth to get the Sox offense back to the plate. Since coming on in relief of Grant Balfour, Dan Wheeler walked Jason Bay to lead off the inning and there is one thing in baseball that is worse than a hit for a pitcher and it is a walk. J.D. Drew had already been a post-season hero once, last year against the Indians, and he came through again this year, bringing the Sox within a run with homerun just right of the Rays bullpen. Wheeler would get Lowrie to fly out to left and strike out Sean Casey, who pinch-hit for Varitek before Mark Kotsay doubled over Upton’s head in center. He came around to score on a base hit to right by Crisp after fouling off numerous pitches from Wheeler until he got the one he wanted, to send the game the game into extra innings.

The Sox send Josh Beckett to the hill in Game Six where he will be opposed by Big Game James Shields. Beckett is coming off one of his worst performances in the playoffs where he gave up the lead three times during Game Two while Shields pitched a tremendous Game One but was outdone by Matsuzaka.

RED SOX 8, RAYS 7

WIN: Justin Masterson

LOSS: J.P. Howell

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The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. J.D. Drew, BOSTON ---- 2-4 Homerun, Double, 3 RBIs

2. Coco Crisp, BOSTON --- 2-4 RBI

3. B.J. Upton, TAMPA BAY ---- 3-4 Homerun, Double, 4 RBIs

Only in Haverhill and Woonsocket are they smiling

10.13.2008
RED SOX LOSE ANOTHER TO RAYS 9-1; RAYS LEAD SERIES 2-1

Local Boy, Rocco Baldelli puts the nail in the coffin as Rays take 2-1 series lead

(October 13, 2008) – Growing up a Red Sox fan in Woonsockett, RI during the 90s, Rocco Baldelli had dreams of hitting a homerun in the playoffs over the Green Monster at Fenway. Back when he was his brother, Dante’s, age (10) that is all they were but 17 years later those fantasies turned into reality with a three-run homerun that took the air out of the 38,031 fans that flocked to the Back Bay to witness Game 3.

The Red Sox appeared to have been mounting another late inning comeback with a lead-off walk by Jason Varitek in the bottom of the seventh followed by a base hit down the first base line by Alex Cora, sending Varitek to third with no-outs. Jacoby Ellsbury lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right field to score the Sox captain for the first Sox run of the game.

Baldelli was compared at one-time to Joe DiMaggio but after suffering numerous injuries that landed him on the disabled list many times in his four year career, then being diagnosed with a mitochondrial disorder, he never thought he would be play baseball again. But here he was, defying all the odds, on the Fenway Park field and in the playoffs and hitting the homerun that deflated the rejuvenated the Fenway crowd.

“It was real special to me,” Baldelli told Craig Sager after the game with the expression of shock still written all over his face. It is something that he will remember for the rest of his career.

With help from the top of the Rays line up, Jon Lester cruised through the first inning without breaking a sweat. A polar opposite of Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who was already sweating profusely when he stepped to the plate in the bottom half of the frame. The Sox southpaw only needed four pitches to retire the Rays in the first. Lester got Akinori Iwamura to ground out to second on two pitches before getting Saturday night’s hero, B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena to ground out and fly out, respectively, on first pitches.

One thing about Lester is that as the game progresses, he grows stronger so when he retired the first three batters of the game, Lester looked as if he brought his A-game to the table. But the Rays made adjustments against the Sox left hander, starting in the second inning.

Most of Lester’s 2008 post-season dominance came from his ability to not let the lead-off batter of the inning to reach. It is actually the most important thing a pitcher can do in a game. But in Game Three of the ALCS, Lester’s streak of 15 innings without the lead-off batter reaching came to an end in the top of the second inning.

Evan Longoria battled his way back from a 0-2 deficit to work a seven pitch walk against the Sox lefthander. Lester was able to catch Carl Crawford staring at strike three but not before another seven pitch at-bat. Before the game, Joe Maddon replaced Cliff Floyd in the line up with Willy Aybar, who is 2-for-6 against Lester, and the utility infielder made Maddon look like a genius with a base hit up the middle. Longoria and Aybar advanced on to second and third, respectively, on a first pitch fastball to Dioner Navarro that crossed up Varitek and went as passed ball. Navarro hit a slow ground ball to second to drive in Longoria with the first run of the game.

Lester faced more trouble in the third when shortstop Jason Bartlett lined a 0-2 pitch into left field to lead-off inning for the second consecutive inning. Jason Bay did his best Carl Yastrzemski impersonation trying to hold Iwamura to a single on rocket line drive off the Green Monster. But Bartlett had none of Bay’s decoy and advanced to third on the double. With Lester clearly not at the top of his game, Upton added insult to injury as he deposited a 2-1 pitch into the second row of the Monster seats for a three-run homerun to put the Rays up 4-0. After Pena struck out Pena, Longoria put the Rays up with his fourth homerun of the post-season. So far in the playoffs, Upton and Longoria have combined to hit nine homeruns.

After getting hit around hard in the first three innings, Lester settled down throughout the next 2.2 innings by minimizing the damage and keeping the Rays from crossing the plate. He was also aided by superb defense from Youkilis and some mental mistakes from Upton, possibly changing the momentum of the game.

But not quite. Matt Garza proved to be too much for the Sox offense. The Tampa Bay starter allowed just one run while scattering six hits, walking three and striking out five in six-plus innings of work.

"My job was to get their hitters out," Garza told Sager when asked about being matched up against Lester. "My guys were to get to Lester and they got to Lester."

In the top of the fifth, Upton led-off the inning with base hit, literally, off Lester. Pena beat the over-shift with a bunt down third base but the always alert, Youkilis caught Upton wandering too far past the second base bag and threw to Cora for the first out of the inning. Good play on Youkilis’s part. Bad on the part of Upton. Lester went on to finish the fifth and get the first two outs of the sixth before being replaced by Paul Byrd after allowing five runs – four earned – on six hits while walking two and striking out seven.

With Tampa Bay taking the 2-1 series advantage, the Sox will look to perform some more of their October magic fans have been accustomed to seeing in the playoffs, as the Rays Daddy, Tim Wakefield takes the mound tomorrow night, trying to even up the series. In his career against the Rays, Wakefield is 19-5 with a 3.52 ERA and 145 strike outs in 31 starts. He will be opposed by right hander Andy Sonnanstine, who was 13-9 this year with a 4.38 ERA and 124 strike outs. Against the Sox this year, Sonnanstine was 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA.

RAYS 9, RED SOX 1

WIN: Matt Garza

LOSS: Jon Lester

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The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. B.J. Upton, TAMPA BAY --- 2-5 HR, 3 RBIs, Run-Scored

2. Rocco Baldelli, TAMPA BAY --- 1-3 HR, 3 RBIs

3. Mark Kotsay, BOSTON – 2-4

Up-Town Boy

10.12.2008

RED SOX FALL TO THE RAYS 9-8 in 11; RAYS TIE SERIES 1-1

B.J. Upton ties ALCS at 1-1 with sacrifice fly to right
Jon Lester goes to the Hill in Game Three opposing Rays Matt Garza

(October 11, 2008) – Earlier in the game, B.J. Upton hit towering fly ball on a Josh Beckett fastball to tie the game at three. That was at 9:00 when the kids were still awake. Four hours later when all the little kids were sound a sleep, Upton was the hero once again when he lifted a sacrifice fly to shallow right field, driving in pinch-runner Fernando Perez from third.

“I was looking for a good pitch to hit,” Upton told TBS’s Craig Sager after the game. “The main thing was not to strike out.”

Catcher Dioner Navarro and pinch-hitter for Gabe Gross, Ben Zobrist, led off the inning with back-to-back walks off the only pitcher left in the Sox bullpen, Mike Timlin. The Rays sent in the speedy, Perez to pinch run for Navarro. After shortstop Jason Bartlett grounded out to third, the Sox intentionally walked Akinori Iwamura to hopefully get the inning ending double play.

As J.D. Drew came in to make the catch on Upton’s shallow pop fly, the Sox right fielder’s momentum would propel him to make a strong throw to the plate would put the Rays chances of winning in jeopardy. But Perez defied those chances and used his speed to equal the series before heading north to Fenway Park for three games.

The game started at 8:08 on the nose with Beckett opposing Scott Kazmir. S-C-O-T-T K-A-Z-M-I-R used to spell doom for the Red Sox in previous years but in 2008 they have figured out the Tampa Bay 24-year-old Southpaw.

The Sox jumped on the board in the first with clutch two out hitting. Kazmir cruised through the first two batters, fanning Jacoby Ellsbury on six pitches and getting Dustin Pedroia to fly out to B.J. Upton in center, but walked David Ortiz to begin his downward spiral. Kevin Youkilis followed Ortiz’s walk pulling two-strike fastball and sent it into left field for the base hit.

Jason Bay stepped to the dish with two-outs. He has been clutch for the Sox all post-season and has done a good job at making fans forget about the scatter-brained left fielder that previously patrolled the Fenway Park left field. Bay did it once again turning on a 3-2 fastball from Kazmir for a rocket line drive double down the third baseline, scoring Ortiz and Youkilis.

Before Beckett even stepped on the mound he had a 2-0 lead to work with. But Beckett would quickly give those two runs right back. Beckett’s first inning nearly mirror imaged the man who broke his Texas high school strike-out record. He just needed two pitches to retire Rays second baseman Iwamura on a foul pop up to Youkilis and caught Upton staring at a strike three that just barely caught the inner portion of home plate. But the Rays were not going to go down quietly.

In game one, the Rays offense suffered because of their failure to keep an inning alive. The Haverhill-native made sure to change things when he was at the plate. Rays first baseman Carlos Pena lined a double into left-center for Tampa Bay’s first hit of the game and putting the tying run at the dish in the hands of rookie phenom Evan Longoria. Beckett fell behind Longoria 3-1 and the former Cal State 49er made him pay as he turned on a Beckett fastball that came down somewhere on I-75, to tie the game at two a piece.

Kazmir and Beckett appeared to settle down in the second inning. As the left hander retired the Sox side in order in the top of the second, Beckett struck out the side with a base hit to Navarro mixed in between. But things are not always as they appear to be.

Game Two quickly turned into a zero-sum, game of chicken where neither team really wanted the led. Beckett gave the lead back to the Rays. Kazmir kept giving it back to the Sox.

In the top of the third, B.J. Upton took a 2-0 pitch from Beckett to tie up the game at three. After Pena popped foul to Mark Kotsay, Longoria lined a double to the base of the wall in left just feet from his second homerun of the game. The Rays third baseman would come around to score the Rays fourth run on a base hit to right-center off the bat of left fielder, Carl Crawford, for Tampa Bay’s first lead of the game. But Crawford got a little too cocky and was caught off guard by possible, game-changing pick-off, throw from Beckett to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, former Red Sox outfielder Cliff Floyd added an insurance run with a home run to the restaurant in the center field, giving the Rays a two run lead. But once again Kazmir could not hold the Tampa Bay lead.

Facing his arch-nemesis to lead off the top of the fifth inning, Kazmir gave up his second homerun of the game to the little man with the big swing. If you are Scott Kazmir, you have to be thinking how can I get this little guy out? Pedroia’s second homerun of the game, made him 16-for-28 (.571) with three homeruns and five RBIs against the Rays Southpaw. After getting Ortiz to fly out to right field, Youkilis tied up the game with the sixth homerun of the game and chased Kazmir from the game. He finished the game after allowing five runs on six hits while walking three and striking out three in 4.1 innings of work.

In relief of Kazmir, Grant Balfour did not fair much better against the potent Sox line up. Bay turned an inside fastball and pulled it down the third base line. When the ball landed, the Red Sox had the one-run lead and tied an ALCS record with seven homeruns in a championship series game. But the game was just in the fifth inning. There was plenty of baseball to be played and plenty of time to set a new record.

After 26-minute wait, Beckett took the mound once again with the lead but the cat-and-mouse game continued. Iwamura became Beckett’s fifth strike-out victim of the night and it looked as if the Sox fireballer was going to start to settle into a grove. But a walk to Upton gave the Rays speed on the base paths with the heart of the line up. An Upton steal of second appeared to have rattled Becket as Pena lined a base hit past the dive of Pedroia in the over-drawn shift and scored the speedy Upton from second. That is what speed can do to you. Speed kills.

The Rays were not done yet. Longoria, who was all ready 2-2 with a double and homerun, turned on a Beckett inside fastball and lined a double down the left field line scoring Pena from first. Longoria advanced to third base on Jed Lowrie’s throw to the plate. Terry Francona decided he had seen enough and went to the left handed Javier Lopez to face the left handed Crawford. Facing the left hander, Crawford drove in his second RBI of the game lining a base hit to right and scoring Longoria from third, giving the Rays the two-run advantage.

The Sox are relentless and started to chip away at the Rays lead. They got half of it back in the top of the sixth when Pedroia walked with one out to set the table for the power hitters behind him. After Ortiz was caught looking at strike three, Youkilis singled up the middle, advancing Pedroia to second and sending Bay to the plate. Bay came through once again with a base hit into center field. Just like the little engine that could, Pedroia’s little legs motored around third and slid into home with Boston’s seventh run of the game.

Two innings later, Pedroia led off the eighth with a mean, slap single into right field. Ortiz walked for the third time against the left handed Trever Miller. So with no-outs the Red Sox had two men on base and Sox fans could smell blood especially with Youkilis stepping up the plate. Although Youkilis ended up grounding into the 6-4-3 double play, he did advance Pedroia up to third base, thus putting the tying run just 90-feet from home and that was the key. In relief of Miller, Dan Wheeler uncorked a wild pitch that went to the back stop and thanks to a poor throw from Navarro, Pedroia scored with ease to tie the game.

After Dustin Pedroia tied up the score in the top of the eighth inning, the bullpen shut down the Rays offense from the six inning forward to give the Sox offense an opportunity to win the game. The combination of Javier Lopez, Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson and Jonathan Papelbon retired 17 of 19, including five consecutive, Ray batters. You have to tip your cap to the middle relief of the Red Sox pitching staff because in the heat of all the excitement of the ALCS and the post-season those five guys between the starter and closer get over looked. But they are an important piece to the puzzle for a championship team.

Jon Lester will get the nod when the series heads north to Fenway for three games. Lester has dominated the Rays with a 3-0, an ERA under one (0.90) and 19 strike outs. He will be opposed by the 11-9 right hander Matt Garza. In 2008 Garza is 1-1 against the Red Sox with a 4.50 ERA and 10 strike outs in four starts.

RAYS 9, RED SOX 8

WIN: David Price

LOSS: Mike Timlin

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The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. B.J. Upton, TAMPA BAY ----- 1-4 HR, 2 RBI, 2 Runs-scored, Game Winning RBI

2. Evan Longoria, TAMPA BAY ---- 3-5 2 2B, HR, 3RBI, 3 Runs-scored

3. Dustin Pedroia, BOSTON ---- 3-5 2 HR, 2RBI

Tampa Bay takes second game of the series on Akinora Iwamura’s two-run homerun in the eighth

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RED SOX FALL TO THE RAYS 2-1; MOVE TO 15-11
Tampa Bay takes second game of the series on Akinora Iwamura’s two-run homerun in the eighth

(April 26, 2008) – The Red Sox offense was silent tonight, scoring only one run in the game but it appeared as if it was all they were going to need because rookie Clay Buchholz was on his game – for the first seven innings he pitched. After pitching seven innings of one hit ball and retiring 13 consecutive Rays hitters after a B.J. Upton fourth inning double, Buchholz surrendered a two-run game winning homerun to second baseman Akinora Iwamura to give the Rays the 2-1 win.

The rookie pitcher got off to rough start in the first – walking B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena back-to-back – but was able to get fellow rookie Evan Longoria to end the inning. As the game went along, Buchholz appeared to get better as the pitch count rose. He ran into trouble in the bottom of the eighth inning when pinch-hitter Dioneer Navarro broke up Buchholz’s streak of retiring 13 consecutive Tampa Bay hitters with a base hit. As long as shortstop Jason Bartlett did his job by not grounding into an inning ending double to get Iwamura and the rest of the top of the Rays line up to the plate.

Buchholz was left in the game just a tad bit too long and received his second loss of the season. Although he got the loss, the Sox rookie pitcher pitched magnificent. Nothing bad should be said about Buchholz. As the game went along it appeared as if Buchholz got stronger. Now we all know in sports as the game continues that can not happen but it was because his confidence level was growing as the game continued. That is the reason he looked as if he was getting stronger.

Coco Crisp scored the lone Boston run in the top of the fifth inning when he led off the inning with a single into right field. The speedy center fielder would advance two bases on an Edwin Jackson wild pitch that went to the back stop, allowing Crisp to advance to third base. It appeared as if Jackson was going to get out of the inning unscathed – striking out catcher Jason Varitek and Julio Lugo – but it was not going to be. Jacoby Ellsbury, who was a last minute addition to the line up, slapped a base hit down to third and just barely beat the throw to first to drive in Crisp from third.

The Red Sox will try to ward of the sweep in tomorrow’s matinee with the Rays in the abbreviated road trip to St. Petersburg, Florida. Josh Beckett will make his fourth start of the season and look to improve his record to 3-1. After starting the season on the disabled list with back and hip problems, Beckett has only gotten better and stronger with each outing. In his first start of the season, he failed to get through the fifth inning but in his last start on against the arch-nemesis Yankees, Beckett pitched eight complete innings allowing three earned runs on six hits and five strike outs. Beckett’s 2-1 record, 5.12 ERA and 16 strike outs will be opposed by Rays righty James Shields who has been Tampa Bay’s ace while Scott Kazmir is on the disabled list. Shields is coming off a 6-4 win against the Toronto Blue Jays were he completed seven innings allowing two runs on six hits with five strikes. Overall on the young season the Rays “Ace” is 2-1 with a 3.30 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 21 strike outs.

WIN: Scott Dohman (2-0)

LOSS: Clay Buchholz (1-2)

SAVE: Troy Percival (5)

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Game Notes:

Injury Report:

Mike Lowell made his first rehab assignment last night and due to come off the disabled list some time in the next couple of days. David Ortiz was scratched from the starting line up for tonight’s second game with the Rays because of a bruised knee. Sox put Sean Casey on the 15-day DL with a strained right hip flexor and recalled Brandon Moss from Pawtucket. (My opinion is that Moss is going to become the next Lou Merloni.)

Clay Buchholz went into the bottom of the fourth with a no-hitter until B.J. Upton broke it up with a double down the left field line.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Akinori Iwamura, TAMPA BAY 1-4 HR, 2-RBIs

2. B.J. Upton, TAMPA BAY 1-2 Double and an outfield assist

3. Clay Buchholz, BOSTON 8IP 3H, 2ER, 2BB, 8K