Air Ray'd by Jared Carrabis
Sox bullpen falters in loss to Rays


There is more space between Michael Strahan's teeth, than there is in between the top three teams in the American League East.

In typical Daisuke Matsuzaka fashion, the right-hander took the mound in the first and tossed 29 pitches, and walked three batters. Just like he has known to do, Matsuzaka got out of the jam. Matsuzaka entered the night with opponents hitting just .164 against him with the bases loaded in his career, and that number improved in the first.

Daisuke's luck would run dry in the third, when his walk total came back to haunt him. Matsuzaka allowed the first batter to reach on a walk, and then allowed a base hit to John Jaso to put two men on. Two batters later, former Red Sox catcher Kelly Shoppach planted a double off the wall to bring two runs home.

Shoppach later scored on an RBI base hit by Ben Zobrist.

The three-run frame for Daisuke would be his lone blemish, but his high pitch count wouldn't allow much longevity in his outing. Matsuzaka got the hook after logging six innings, allowing three runs on four hits, walking four and striking out seven. Of his 111 pitches, just 63 went for strikes.

With Rays' starter Matt Garza pitching a gem through six, the Red Sox finally got on the board with two outs. Newcomer Eric Patterson came around to score on an RBI double by David Ortiz, but Garza prevented any further damage, getting Kevin Youkilis to pop out.

Chasing a two-run deficit, the Red Sox looked to their bullpen to keep Boston within striking distance. However, the Rays had other plans. After Scott Atchison pitched a scoreless seventh, Manny Delcarmen came out for the eighth and was disastrous.

Delcarmen allowed all five batters that he faced to reach base on three singles, a walk and a double.

Ramon Ramirez came on to try and clean up Delcarmen's mess, but was no better. About a half-second after a fan in the stands yelled, "Nice batting average!" (referring to Jason Bartlett's .223 average), Bartlett crushed an 0-2 changeup into the Monster seats for a three-run blast.

Of the six runs that came across in the eighth for Tampa Bay, five of them were charged to Delcarmen, as his ERA rose to 4.59 after being 2.23 just three appearances prior.

Now facing an eight-run deficit, with the Rays leading 9-1, the Red Sox jumped all over Garza, collecting back-to-back singles to chase the right-hander from the game.

That's when Ortiz came to the plate and rocked a two-run double into the gap in right-center, bringing home Youkilis and Patterson, who both singled to open the inning. Ortiz later scored on a deep drive by Adrian Beltre that went as a sacrifice fly.

The Red Sox went quietly in the ninth, as Boston had to settle for a series split. However, the Rays took a 5-4 lead in the season series between these two AL East foes.



Final score: Rays 9, Red Sox 4
WP: Matt Garza (9-5)
LP: Daisuke Matsuzaka (5-3)

Game notes: After going 0-for-4 on Wednesday, Kevin Youkilis is now 2-for-32 against the Rays this season, with both hits being home runs. David Ortiz went 2-for-3 in the series finale, driving in three runs. At the end of June, Ortiz has 17 HR and 53 RBI. At the end of June last season, Ortiz had just 8 HR and 36 RBI. Adrian Beltre's sac fly in the 8th gave him 53 RBI 76 games. Beltre had 44 RBI all of last season in 111 games played. The five runs allowed by Manny Delcarmen ties a career high, which was also against the Rays, in the 2008 postseason.

Eye on the scoreboard: Behind more outstanding starting pitching from Seattle, Felix Hernandez turned in a complete game, two-hit shutout with eleven strikeouts. With the Mariners blanking the Yankees 7-0, the Red Sox don’t lose any ground, but the Rays do climb within a game of Boston, as one game separates the top three teams in the AL East.

Tweet(s) of the Night: @ScottLauber: Forget outfielders. #RedSox need to find this year's version of Billy Wagner, a proven reliever who can help them down stretch.

@HackswithHaggs: It sounds to me like #redsox might be considering DL stint for Manny Delcarmen after the way he's pitched recently. Back still bothering him

-Jared Carrabis

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





Published on June 30, 2010

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