The Replacements by Jared Carrabis
Bill Hall, Jason Varitek pick up the slack in Sox' win


Take it easy. We didn't have Dustin Pedroia or Victor Martinez in the lineup tonight. Wait...what? We won anyway? Never mind.

An 11-game winning a year ago, "Big Game" James Shields squared off against the Red Sox' big right-hander, who could have 11 wins not long after the All Star break.

The two right-handers took turns, putting up scoreless innings of work for each of the first four frames. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, David Ortiz broke the scoreless tie with a bang.

Pouncing on the first pitch of the at bat, Ortiz blasted a three-run shot that landed about seven rows deep into the right field bleachers. With a flip of the bat, the Sox had a 3-0 lead. The homer was Ortiz's 17th of the season. Ortiz didn't hit his 17th home run of 2009 until August 18 at Texas.

In the bottom of the sixth, with two men aboard, Jason Varitek lined a base hit into right that brought home Boston's fourth run of the evening. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Daniel Nava chopped a grounder out to second base that was booted by Reid Brignac. Nava was credited with a hit and an RBI, as the Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

Lackey cruised into the seventh, scattering eight hits through his outing. Before his work was finished in the seventh, he did, however, allow a run on an RBI single by Evan Longoria.

In the bottom of the inning, the Red Sox put this one out of reach. The captain drove home his second run of the night on a sacrifice fly, and one batter later, Bill Hall cranked a two-run bomb into the Monster seats to extend Boston's lead to 8-1.

The ever-mysterious Hideki Okajima would come on in the eighth and allow a two-run shot to Willy Aybar to cut the deficit down to five.

The resilient Rays made things interesting in the ninth, when Scott Atchison allowed a walk and a single to start the inning. With two outs and Dustin Richardson now standing on the mound, Ben Zobrist battled for seven pitches, before dumping a base hit into center that was just out of the reach of Mike Cameron. Two runs would score, creating a save situation for you know who.

With two outs and the tying run on deck, Jonathan Papelbon made his 31st appearance of the season. With the count even at two, Papelbon blew a 97 MPH heater by the swinging bat of Aybar to preserve the victory.



Final score: Rays 5, Red Sox 8
WP: John Lackey (9-3)
LP: James Shields (6-8)
SV: Jonathan Papelbon (18)

Game notes: The Red Sox' win over the Rays at Fenway Park was the first time that the home team has won a game between these two throughout the season series. David Ortiz's last three home runs have all been the first runs of the game. After an 8-3 victory over the Rays, John Lackey improved to 9-3. Lackey did not win his 9th decision until August 30 in 2009. Adrian Beltre, who was 4-for-4 on Tuesday, eclipsed the century mark for his season hits total. It was also Beltre's second 4-hit game of the season. Since June 9, Beltre has raised his average from .329 -- the lowest it has been since he was hitting .327 on May 25 -- to .349, which is good for third best in the majors. Keep in mind that Beltre is fourth in All Star voting at third base. But, hey. This one counts!

Eye on the scoreboard: With Cliff Lee hurling a complete game in a winning effort against the Bronx Bombers, and the Red Sox hanging on to top the Rays, Boston now finds themselves two games up on Tampa Bay, and just one game behind the men in pinstripes.

Tweet of the Night: @PeteAbe: What injuries? Two RBI each for Varitek and Hall. #RedSox pounding the Rays 8-1.

-Jared Carrabis

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!





Published on June 29, 2010

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