Returning the favor by Jared Carrabis
Tip of the cap to youngsters, but veterans smash five homers


It was certainly a series of beat-downs, and early on, it appeared as if though the Red Sox were going to be on the receiving end of their second consecutive, but not so fast.

A three-run bomb off the bat of B.J. Upton had the Rays out to an early 4-0 lead in the second with notorious Red Sox-killer Matt Garza on the hill. Things weren’t looking too good for the Sox; that was until the booming Boston bats had something to say about it.

The Red Sox began to chip away almost instantly, as Adrian Beltre blasted his twenty-seventh long ball of the season, and his third off of Garza this season, for a two-run big fly.

In the next frame, Marco Scutaro, who has been plagued by a shoulder injury for much of the season, hammered a 96mph heater into the Monster seats for a solo shot. Later in the inning, David Ortiz got in on the fun, ripping his twenty-ninth of the season over the big green wall, also of the solo variety, to tie the game at four.

The Rays would reclaim the lead on an RBI double by Jason Bartlett in the fourth, but the red-hot bat of Victor Martinez changed that real quick, tattooing his fifteenth homer of the season to deep center, tying the game at five.

From there, the Red Sox piled on six unanswered runs, including an RBI double by Ryan Kalish, and Scutaro’s second home run of the night, as the Boston shortstop finished the night a triple shy of the cycle.

Playing in his third major league game, one of the Red Sox’ highly touted prospects, Lars Anderson, collected his first big league hit and RBI, going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.

Making his twenty-ninth appearance and eighteenth start of the season, the reliable Tim Wakefield logged not one of his most impressive outings, but it was good enough. Wakefield tossed five innings, allowing five runs – four earned – with some sub par defense behind him. The veteran knuckleballer held the Rays to six hits, while walking two and striking out four in the victory.

After Wakefield’s departure, the Red Sox bullpen arms of Scott Atchison (2 IP), Daniel Bard and Hideki Okajima combined to toss four innings of two-hit, shutout ball.



Final score: Rays 5, Red Sox 11
WP: Tim Wakefield (4-10)
LP: Matt Garza (14-8)

Game notes: On Wednesday night, at 44 years, 37 days, Tim Wakefield became the oldest pitcher in Red Sox history to win a game. With a base salary of $1.5 million for the 2011 season, Wakefield passed the 130-inning mark, bumping his salary up to $2 million for next year. The Red Sox tied the Blue Jays with their eleventh four-plus home run game this season. Matt Garza’s four homers allowed tied a career high. Marco Scutaro’s two-homer game was just the second of his career. When Adrian Beltre connected with his two-run homer in the second, he drove in career RBIs 1,000 and 1,001. On top of Lars Anderson collecting his first major league hit and RBI on Wednesday night, Josh Reddick had himself his first three-hit game at the major league level.

Tweet of the Night: @alexspeier: Yes, New England, that lazy fly ball to left was worth $500,000 for Wakefield next year.

-Jared Carrabis

Published on September 09, 2010

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