What seems to be the problem, Joe? by Jared Carrabis
Red Sox bash the Rays into submission in series opener


When Jon Lester fired the first pitch of the game, the Red Sox fielded six of nine homegrown players, four of which were rookies, on the diamond at Fenway.

It was a long night at the yard, but thanks to the long ball, the Red Sox did what they could not do when it counted at Tropicana Field, and that was stick it to the Rays. Boston scored three runs in each of the first two frames, including back-to-back homers by David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre, which chased Rays starter Jeff Niemann from the game after an inning and-two-thirds.

With a four-run cushion, the Red Sox offense didn’t let up in the bottom of the fourth, as Boston sent eight men to the plate, scoring five times in all. After a bases-loaded walk to Jed Lowrie that plated Daniel Nava, who singled to start the frame, Ryan Kalish came to the plate with the bags still full and two away.

With a hitter’s count, Kalish wound up and connected with a 3-1 cutter and launched it over the bullpen and into the bleachers for his second career grand slam, padding the Red Sox’ lead to 11-2 over the Rays.

Lester, being the bulldog that he is, labored in the early innings of his start, reaching 70 pitches by the third inning, but somehow managed to turn what was looking like a mediocre start into a terrific outing.

After allowing a run in the third inning, Lester retired the last ten batters that he faced, while striking out a total of ten Rays in his 94-pitch night.

In strange fashion the Red Sox out-hit the Rays by one, yet outscored them by seven. After Lester departed, Robert Coello made a horrific major league debut out of the bullpen, facing six batters, allowing all but one to reach base, including a pair of bases-loaded walks to set his ERA at 81.00 to begin his big league career.

In what was supposed to be the game’s headliner, but was anything but, Lars Anderson was 0-for-4 in his major league debut with a pair of strikeouts, getting the start at first base.



Final score: Rays 5, Red Sox 12
WP: Jon Lester (16-8)
LP: Jeff Niemann (10-6)

Game notes: The Red Sox scored all twelve of their runs with two outs. The box score in the paper will surely be a long one in the morning, as 27 players saw action in Monday night’s game. The Rays tied a major league record for most pinch hitters used in a single inning, sending six pinch hitters to the plate in the seventh. They would have broken the record, as Carlos Pena was set to be pinch-hit for, but Rays manager Joe Maddon elected to give Pena a shot at the plate, as the bags were full, and a grand slam would have had the Rays down by three. For the third consecutive start, Jon Lester struck out ten batters. Lester’s 16 wins tie a career high, which the left-hander set in 2008. Of Ryan Kalish’s three home runs to start his career, two of them are grand slams. The last Red Sox rookie to hit two grand slams in a season was Bob Zupcic in 1992. David Ortiz’s homer in the second inning was his 28th of the season, and first since August 19. Ortiz finished 2009 with 28 homers in total. Sixteen batters were issued walks for both teams, with two being intentional to Adrian Beltre. The Red Sox bullpen walked three batters with the bases loaded, making that five walks with the bags full in their last two games, as seven teams had five or fewer all season.

Tweet of the Night: @Sean_McAdam: Ryan Kalish, who had never hit a grand slam at any level before this year, now has two in the big leagues in the last month.

-Jared Carrabis

Published on September 07, 2010

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