Sox Score 7 For Number 7 by Jared Carrabis
Bay, Drew help put seven runs on the board to complete DiMaggio tribute


It wasn't a record-setting twelve-run inning for the Sox in the sixth inning for the second consecutive night, but an offensive outburst in the very same inning on Friday was all the Red Sox needed to bury the Rays.

Entering Friday night's match up, the Red Sox had manhandled all of their opponents, except for the Tampa Bay Rays. Dating back to 2008, including the ALCS, the Rays had won six of their last eight games at Fenway Park. It looked like it was going to be more of the same when the Rays attacked Red Sox starter, Brad Penny, for a run in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by free agent acquisition, Pat Burrell, to drive in Carl Crawford. The Rays continued to tack on one run at a time when in the top of the third, the speedy Carl Crawford legged out a three-bagger to set up a sacrifice fly off the bat of Evan Longoria to up the Rays' lead to 2-0.

In the top of the fourth, Jason Bartlett roped his sixth double of the season off the base of the Green Monster to drive in Gabe Gross to add another run to Tampa Bay's lead. "Big Game" James Shields kept the Red Sox off the scoreboard until their favorite inning, the sixth. On Thursday night, the Red Sox scored twelve runs before an out had been recorded, an American League record. On Friday, the Red Sox continued their success in the sixth frame.

Dustin Pedroia, who was 4-for-5 with an RBI, singled to lead off the inning. After a seven-pitch walk to David Ortiz, Red Sox' left fielder, Jason Bay came to the plate. Representing the tying run, Bay blasted a 93 MPH fastball off the Sports Authority sign, high above the Green Monster. Shields reacted almost instantly, as he knew that the fastball he dealt to Bay didn't have that great of a chance of staying in the yard. Bay has now homered nine times on the year, and the Red Sox are unbeaten at 8-0 (homered twice on April 11) in every game that the right-hander has left the yard. His 32 RBI rank second in the AL to Evan Longoria and his nine long balls rank third in the American League behind Carlos Pena (13 HR) and Longoria once again (10 HR).

"This is a very hot stretch, and it's very hard to keep that up for an entire year, but I'm riding it out," said Bay. "When things kind of settle down a little, you have to keep the same demeanor out there."

The very next at bat, Shields allowed Mike Lowell's tenth double of the season in the left field corner to bring JD Drew to the plate. Still with no outs, JD Drew hammered the first pitch of his at bat deep to right field. The ball sailed and sailed until it landed safely in the visitor's bullpen for a two-run shot.

"Changeup up in the zone," said Drew. "[I was] just able to get the barrel through it and fortunately, it gets out." Drew continued to say, "We feed off each other to get things rolling," said Drew. "Jason hit that big three-run homer in that situation, and Mike came up and doubled. You feel like you've got a chance to maybe have a big inning. Like I said, I wanted to get a pitch out and over the plate to see if I could get the barrel to it."

After Drew's fourth home run of the season, Shields went on to strike out the side, but would not return for the seventh inning. Shields exited after throwing 106 pitches to 28 batters, allowing two home runs, walking one and striking out seven. The right-hander gave up five earned runs on ten hits.

Rays' reliever, Grant Balfour, was touched up for two earned runs when Jacoby Ellsbury shot his fifth double of the season to the opposite field, as Julio Lugo came all the way around from first base to score. After a visit to the mound, Dustin Pedroia drove in Ellsbury with a base hit into center field.

With Boston's run support, Brad Penny thrived for his second consecutive start, hurling 6.1 innings, giving up just three earned runs on eight hits. The right-hander tossed 91 pitches in his outing (56 for strikes), while facing the same number of batters as Shields (28). Penny walked two and struck out two en route to earning his third win of 2009, while lowering his ERA to 6.90.

When it was all said and done, the captain, Jason Varitek, had nothing but praise for his starting pitcher, "His last two innings, I thought, were outstanding," said catcher Jason Varitek. "He was throwing strike one, getting a lot of one-pitch outs. He ended up having a nice, quality start. Going into the seventh for us is big. He kind of minimized the damage and kept us with an opportunity."

Hideki Okajima (1.0 IP) and Ramon Ramirez (0.2 IP) built the bridge to Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning. With a four-run lead, it was not a save situation for the Boston closer. Papelbon may have a 1.38 ERA on the season, but he has only had a clean 1-2-3 inning on three occasions in twelve appearances. The right-hander has had to work for every out, as he has now throw 255 pitches in his 13 innings of work in 2009. Papelbon only needed 11 pitches to secure a win for Boston on Friday night, as he struck out BJ Upton and Carl Crawford to wrap things up.

So, what do you need to know to impress your friends tomorrow? Every Red Sox batter in the starting lineup had a hit except for David Ortiz, who was 0-for-4 with one strikeout and a walk, while leaving four men on base (and still hasn't hit a home run in 109 at bats). While the Red Sox picked up their nineteenth win of the season, Terry Francona picked up his 489th win as manager of the Red Sox. The milestone for Francona ties him for third all time in Red Sox history with Bill Carrigan. Dustin Pedroia's average was as low as .158 in April, but after his second four-hit game of the season, the Red Sox second baseman's average now sits at a cool .336. The boost in average can be attributed to his hot start to the month of May, in which Pedroia has batted .429 with a 1.029 OPS.

The middle-game of this series will feature a duel between a pair of talented southpaws. Scott Kazmir and Jon Lester will square off at Fenway Park, with the Sox looking to secure their first series win against the Rays and Kazmir looking to put his team in a position to even up this three-game set. Luckily for the Sox, Lester is coming off one of the best outings of his career, indicating that he has snapped out of the funk that he had been in to begin the season. Lester racked up 10 K's against the Yankees in his last outing and is 4-1 with a 3.97 ERA against Tampa Bay. Kazmir broke into the league as a "Red Sox killer", but Boston has since figured him out. The left-handed starter for the Rays is 7-7 with a 3.52 ERA in his career against Boston and holds a 5-4 record at Fenway Park in twelve starts.

In Memory of Dom DiMaggio
On Friday morning, Red Sox Nation lost a family member that was dear to us all. The youngest of three DiMaggio brothers, Dom DiMaggio broke into the Major Leagues with the Boston Red Sox on April 16, 1940. Known as "The Little Professor", DiMaggio spent his entire 14-year Major League career with the Boston Red Sox. Through the duration of his time in Boston, the center fielder made his mark here in Red Sox Nation. His 34-game hitting streak in 1949 still stands to this day as a Red Sox record (the DiMaggio's had a thing for hitting streaks) and his above average hitting earned him seven AL All Star selections.

DiMaggio batted .300 or better in four seasons for Boston. He led the American League in runs scored on two separate occasions and he also led the AL in triples and stolen bases. The former teammate of Ted Williams himself boasted a .298 career batting average with 1,680 hits and 618 RBI in his time with the Red Sox. As an inductee to the Red Sox Hall of Fame, many have argued that The Little Professor belongs in Cooperstown with his big brother, Joe. I couldn't agree more.

Red Sox Nation bid farewell to the pesky 5'9'' center fielder on Friday, May 8, 2009 when Dominic Paul DiMaggio passed away in his home in Marion, Massachusetts. DiMaggio had been battling pneumonia and finally lost the battle at the age of 92. He may be known as "Joe DiMaggio's little brother" in New York, but here in Boston, he will be remembered as "Dom DiMaggio, one of the greatest Red Sox players to ever wear the uniform." With his number seven embedded in the center field grass at Fenway Park, Dom surely got the best view on Friday night to see the Red Sox top the Rays by a 7-3 score. Rest In Peace, Little Professor. Your legend will live on forever through the voices of the fans.

-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Rays 3, Red Sox 7

Published on May 09, 2009

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