Sox Summary: Sox top Rays to win series, keep playoff hopes alive

Marco Scutaro (left) hit two home runs in the victory. (Boston Globe)

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Wednesday, September 8, 2010) – The Red Sox kept their playoff hopes alive with an 11-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday at Fenway Park. With the win, the Sox take over second place in the Wild Card standings again and remain 6.5 games behind the Rays for first. The win also gave the Red Sox the series win, although the Sox dropped the overall series, 11-7, in 2010.

Tampa Bay scored four runs over the first two innings, including a B.J. Upton three-run home run to left field (16) in the second to put the Rays up 5-0 at the time. Matt Joyce finished the game at 2-for-4 with a run.

The Sox belted five home runs, including two by Marco Scutaro in the third and seventh innings to drive in three runs. Both home runs (9, 10) were hit to left field, while the second one also drove in Lars Anderson.

Scutaro finished 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBI, while Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez each had two hits.

At 44 years, 37 days old today, Tim Wakefield became the oldest pitcher in Red Sox history to record a win, passing hall-of-famer Dennis Eckersley, who won in a relief appearance at Baltimore on September 17, 1998 at 43 years, 349 days old. He allowed six hits and five runs (four earned) over five innings to improve to 4-10.

Matt Garza was roughed up over just 4.1 innings of nine-hit, six-run ball to fall to 14-8 on the season.

The Red Sox have Thursday off and will travel out west for the final time in 2010, opening a three-game series with Oakland on Friday night. Clay Buchholz will start on normal five-day rest against Trevor Cahill. During the final two games of the series, the Sox will face lefites, Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden.

NOTES

* The Low-A Greenville Drive opened their best-of-three South Atlantic League South Division playoff series with an 8-3 win over Savannah (NYM) on Wednesday night. First baseman Reynaldo Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with two doubles, three RBI, and a run scored, while Drake Britton earned the win for the Drive. Chris Balcom-Miller takes the mound for Greenville as the Sand Gnats host the second game of the series on Friday.

Sox Summary: Dice-K struggles, Sox playoff hopes faded in loss to Rays

Eric Patterson stands in front of a very ugly Green Monster that pretty much shows the end to the Sox' season. (Winslow Townson/AP)

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Tuesday, September 7, 2010) – The Tampa Bay Rays may have finally put the final blow on the Red Sox’ playoff hopes as the Sox fell 14-5 on Tuesday at Fenway Park. The Sox have lost three of the last four games, all on Yawkey Way, while the Rays have won six of the last ten and have now dropped the Sox to 7.5 games in the Wild Card race.

The Sox took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Victor Martinez doubled to left field, scoring Marco Scutaro and Darnell McDonald. The Rays squared the score at two in the third as Ben Zobrist hit a two-run home run to center field with one out.

Tampa Bay broke the game open with a four-run fourth inning that included a bases-loaded, no-out walk to Jason Bartlett, one-out single by Ben Zobrist, and a two-run double to right field by Carl Crawford.

In the fifth, Bartlett hit a two-run home run to left field (4) with two outs, giving the Rays a commanding 8-2 lead. Carl Crawford made it 9-2 Dustin Richardson allowed a single back to the pitcher’s mound where he overthrew first base, allowing a run to score. The biggest blow came when Evan Longoria hit a two-out, three-run home run to left field (21) for a 12-2 lead.

Dan Johnson (3) and B.J. Upton hit back-to-back home runs with one out in the sixth inning to right and left field, respectively.

The Sox added three in the eighth on a solo home run by Darnell McDonald (9), as well as RBI doubles by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jed Lowrie, but it was not nearly enough as the Rays put the Sox down in a big way early on in the game.

Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed eight hits and eight runs over 4.2 innings as he fell to 9-5. David Price was solid over six innings of two-hit, two run baseball, improving to 17-6.

The Red Sox look to salvage the three-game series on Wednesday as Tim Wakefield makes the start against Matt Garza. If the Sox had won this game, Clay Buchholz would have taken the ball, but the loss drops them even further back to ultimately end the playoff hopes for the Sox.

Red Sox Today: September 7 vs. Rays

RED SOX (77-61)
16 Marco Scutaro 2B
54 Darnell McDonald CF
41 Victor Martinez C
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
34 David Ortiz DH
25 Mike Lowell 1B
12 Jed Lowrie SS
7 J.D. Drew RF
22 Bill Hall LF

18 Daisuke Matsuzaka RHP

RAYS (83-54)
28 John Jaso C
18 Ben Zobrist 2B
13 Carl Crawford LF
3 Evan Longoria 3B
23 Carlos Pena 1B
20 Matt Joyce RF
24 Dan Johnson DH
2 B.J. Upton CF
8 Jason Bartlett SS

14 David Price LHP

* The Red Sox opened the three-game series last night with an offensive outburst, a 12-5 win over the Rays. This current series concludes the season series between the division rivals and the Rays have won 10 of the 16 games so far, including five of seven. However, the Sox are 16-10 against Tampa Bay since September 11, 2007.

Roster Move: The Boston Red Sox today recalled right-handed pitcher Michael Bowden from Triple-A Pawtucket. Bowden will be active for tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park, wearing No. 64. Bowden, who turns 24 on Thursday, has made six relief appearances over two stints with the Red Sox this season, posting a 6.00 ERA with six strikeouts. In 31 games (16 starts) with the PawSox in 2010, he went 6-4 with one save, a 3.66 ERA, 77 strikeouts and 37 walks, while holding opponents to a .222 clip (84-for-379).

For the Record: The Sox are 77-61, good for third in the A.L. East and ninth-best in the Majors. The Sox have lost six of nine, but is 22-17 since July 26. The Sox sit third in the division, nine games behind first place New York, their largest deficit since the beginning of last October. They sit in third place in the Wild Card race, 6.5 games behind first-place Tampa Bay.

Hitting a home stretch: The Red Sox continue a six-day, six-game homestand today with the middle of three against the Rays. Following an off-day on Thursday, the club embarks on a six-game west coast road trip through Oakland (September 10-12) and Seattle (September 13-15). Of Boston’s remaining 24 regular season games, 11 will be played at Fenway Park and 13 will be played on the road. Following the current homestand, Boston rounds out its regular season schedule with two road trips and two homestands. Since April 20, the Sox are 40-23 at Fenway and will have won or split 18 of 21 home series with a win tonight.

Citizen Wake: Major League Baseball and Chevrolet, the official vehicle of MLB, today announced that Tim Wakefield was named Boston’s nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award. Wakefield is one of the 30 nominees (one from each club) who are finalists for the national award, which is given annually to the Major League Baseball player who combines a dedication of giving back to the community with outstanding skills on the baseball field.

In addition to being a rock for the Red Sox pitching staff for over a decade, Wakefield is one of the club’s most involved and dedicated contributors in the community. Since moving to Boston from Pittsburgh in 1995, both Tim and his wife, Stacy, have given back in remarkable ways to the Boston and New England communities as well as the Melbourne, Florida community where they make their off-season home.

Every season Tim is among the top players in the number of charitable appearances for the club, and he has consistently donated his time and talent to support organizations that help children in need. The Wakefield Warriors program, which Tim created in 1998, continues to enable patients from the Franciscan Hospital for Children and the Jimmy Fund to visit Tim and watch batting practice before all Tuesday home games at Fenway Park. For the last 17 years, Tim has hosted the Annual Tim Wakefield Celebrity Golf Classic in Melbourne, FL, which benefits the Space Coast Early Intervention Center, a unique non-profit therapeutic pre-school program for children with special needs who are paired with children without any special needs. Wakefield is also actively involved as a generous contributor to Garth Brooks’ Teammates for Kids foundation and has co-hosted the Pitching in for Kids Charity Golf Tournament and Kickoff party with teammate Jason Varitek for the past several years. He is also a longtime supporter of Franciscan Hospital for Children, and the organization has recognized him with their Community Leadership Award in 2003 and last year renamed its refurbished baseball field the Tim “Wake” Field.

This is the eighth time that Wakefield is the Red Sox nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. He will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony on the Fenway Park field tomorrow night prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Rays. As part of the ceremonies, representatives from Chevrolet will be making a contribution to the Pitching in for Kids program.

On the road to the playoffs: Low-A Greenville clinched the second-half South Atlantic League Southern Division Championship and are making their 2nd straight trip to the playoffs. The Drive host the Savannah Sand Gnats (NYM) in game one of the best-of-three Southern Divisional Championship tomorrow night.

Sox Summary: Sox tromp past Rays, gain ground in standings

Ryan Kalish hit a fourth-inning grand slam to put the Sox on an early path to a win. (Boston Globe)

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Monday, September 6, 2010) – The Red Sox gained ground in the division and Wild Card standings, breaking a three-game losing streak with a 12-5 win over Tampa Bay on Monday at Fenway Park. With the win, the Sox now trail the Rays by 6.5 games in the American League Wild Card race.

The Rays jumped out in the first inning on a Carl Crawford RBI single and then dug themselves in a hole by allowing six Red Sox runs over the first two innings. Back-to-back home runs by David Ortiz (two-run, 28) and Adrian Beltre (26) made the three-run first inning, while a two-run single by Victor Martinez and a double by Ortiz equaled the three-run second inning.

Sean Rodriguez hit a sharp single through the infield in the third for another Rays run, making it 6-2.

The Sox put up a five-spot in the fourth on a Jed Lowrie bases-loaded walk and grand slam by Ryan Kalish.

Tampa put up three runs on bases-loaded walks in the seventh, while the Sox added a final run on a Yamaico Navarro sac fly.

Jon Lester earned his 16th win, pitching six innings of four-hit, two-run ball, while Jeff Niemann allowed four hits and six runs over 1.2 innings for the loss.

The series continues 0n Tuesday with Daisuke Matsuzaka facing David Price.

Red Sox Today: September 6 vs. Rays

7:10 p.m., NESN/WEEI

RED SOX (76-61)

60 Daniel Nava LF
7 J.D. Drew RF
41 Victor Martinez C
34 David Ortiz DH
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
12 Jed Lowrie 2B
55 Ryan Kalish CF
44 Lars Anderson 1B
56 Yamaico Navarro SS

31 Jon Lester RHP

RAYS (83-53)
2 B.J. Upton CF
8 Jason Bartlett SS
13 Carl Crawford LF
3 Evan Longoria 3B
23 Carlos Pena 1B
1 Sean Rodriguez 2B
5 Rocco Baldelli DH
18 Ben Zobrist RF
10 Kelly Shoppach C

34 Jeff Niemann RHP

* The Red Sox and Rays conclude their season series this week as the teams play the first of three games at Fenway Park. Tampa Bay has a 10-5 advantage in the against the Sox in 2010 and have won five of six on Yawkey Way.

(Polar) Bear Necessities: Today, first baseman Lars Anderson and outfielder Josh Reddick were both recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket as they conclude their season this afternoon at McCoy Stadium. Anderson combined for a .274 average, 15 home runs and 69 RBI between Portland and the PawSox this season. Reddick has appeared in 11 games and has gone 2-for-25 with Boston, while he has hit .266 in 114 games with the PawSox. Also, catcher Jason Varitek was activated from the 15-day disabled list after being sidelined on July 2 with a right foot fracture.

For the Record: The Sox are 76-61, good for third in the A.L. East and ninth-best in the Majors. The Sox have lost six of eight, but is 21-17 since July 26. The Sox sit third in the division, ten games behind first place New York, their largest deficit since the beginning of last October. They sit in third place in the Wild Card race, 7.5 games behind first-place Tampa Bay.

Hitting a home stretch: The Red Sox continue a six-day, six-game homestand today with the first of three against the Rays. Following an off-day on Thursday, the club embarks on a six-game west coast road trip through Oakland (September 10-12) and Seattle (September 13-15). Of Boston’s remaining 25 regular season games, 12 will be played at Fenway Park and 13 will be played on the road. Following the current homestand, Boston rounds out its regular season schedule with two road trips and two homestands. Since April 20, the Sox are 39-23 at Fenway and have won or split 17 of 20 home series.

Working hard and hardly working: This is the ninth straight season that the Red Sox will play on Labor Day, while five of the last six have been at Fenway. They have won nine of 11 since 1998 and 12 of 15 since 1992. Tonight’s game marks just the eighth time in Rays history they play on the first Monday in September and have won just one of those games, the worst winning percentage in baseball.

Rocco’s back: Outfielder Rocco Baldelli, who has been working as a special instructor with the Rays, returns to Fenway with Tampa Bay tonight. In his first swing with the Rays, he hit a two-run, pinch hit home run and is excited about returning to Fenway after spending last season with the Red Sox.

Sox Summary: Crawford, Rays sink Sox for series win

Northeastern graduate Carlos Pena put the Sox behind early with a home run. (Steve Nesius/AP)

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Sunday, August 29, 2010) – The Red Sox allowed three runs in the sixth innings as the Rays rallied for a 5-3 win over the Red Sox on Sunday at Tropicana Field to clinch the crucial three-game weekend series. With two losses during the weekend, the Sox are now 6.5 games back of the Rays and Yankees for first place in the division and Wild Card standings. The Sox have now lost threeof the last four, but won five of eight.

Northeastern alum and Haverhill native Carlos Pena got the Rays off to a strong start with a solo home run to right-center field (25) in the fourth inning.

Boston took the lead with one out in the fifth inning when Yamaico Navarro and Marco Scutaro each singled to left field, scoring Mike Lowell and Darnell McDonald, respectively for a 2-1 lead. Lowell’s run scored was the first RBI for Navarro’s career.

In the sixth, Daniel Nava gave the Sox a 3-1 lead as he ripped a two-out single into right field to bring home Adrian Beltre. The Rays answered the Sox and then some in the bottom of the inning, scoring three runs to pull out John Lackey in the process. With one out, Carl Crawford tied the game at 3-3 on a two-run home run to right-center field (15), scoring Ben Zobrist. Evan Longoria came around to score on the go-ahead single through the middle by Dan Johnson with two out.

In the seventh, Longoria came through with a single of his own, scoring John Jaso with one out.

James Shields allowed seven hits and three runs over 6.2 innings to earn his 13th win, improving to 13-11. Rafael Soriano came in to close the door on the Sox for his 39th save of the year.

John Lackey took the loss, falling to 12-8. He allowed nine hits and five runs over 6.1 innings.

The Sox have Monday off and head to beautiful Camden Yards for a three-game series with the lowly Orioles beginning Tuesday night. Josh Beckett will open the series against rookie lefty Brian Matusz.

Red Sox Today: August 29 at Rays

RED SOX (74-56)
16 Marco Scutaro SS
7 J.D. Drew RF
41 Victor Martinez C
34 David Ortiz DH
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
25 Mike Lowell 1B
60 Daniel Nava LF
54 Darnell McDonald CF
56 Yamaico Navarro 2B

40 John Lackey RHP

RAYS (79-50)
28 John Jaso C
18 Ben Zobrist 2B
13 Carl Crawford LF
3 Evan Longoria 3B
23 Carlos Pena 1B
20 Matt Joyce RF
24 Dan Johnson DH
3 B.J. Upton CF
8 Jason Bartlett SS

33 James Shields RHP

* The third-place Red Sox and second-place Rays conclude a vital three-game weekend series at Tropicana Field that could very well determine Boston’s playoff fate. The Sox have now lost two of the last three, but won five of seven. The Rays are on a roll of late, having won ten of their last 15 games. The Sox are 5-9 against the Rays this season, including 4-4 at the Trop. This marks the final season series meeting between the teams in St. Petersburg.

On the road again: The Red Sox tonight continue a seven-day, six-game road trip with the finale of three in Tampa Bay. After an off-day on Monday, the club visits Baltimore from Tuesday through Thursday. Following the road trip, Boston hosts a seven-day, seven-game homestand against the White Sox (September 3-5) and Rays (September 6-8). Of Boston’s remaining 34 regular season games, 19 will be played on the road and 15 will be at Fenway Park. The Sox have won 9 of their last 15 contests away from Fenway, while by winning tonight they will have won or split 12 of their last 16 series on the road.

For the Record: The Sox are 74-56, good for third in the A.L. East and tied for seventh-best in the Majors. With a win tonight, the club will have won or split 25 of 30 series since May 17 and 30 of 38 since April 20. The Sox sit third in the division and second in the Wild Card race, 5.5 games behind the Yankees and Rays, who are tied for the top spot in both standings.

Rehab Updates: Eric Patterson (neck strain since August 17) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (right lower leg infection since August 19) continued rehab assignments with Triple-A Pawtucket last night and today. Last night, both played the entirety of the PawSox 2-0 win at Rochester (MIN), with Patterson going 0-for-4 as the club’s DH while Saltalamacchia was behind the plate and went 1-for-4 with a run score. In today’s 6-3 win at Rochester, Patterson played second base and went 2-for-3 with a double, triple, 3 runs scored and a walk while Saltalamacchia served as the DH went 1-for-3 with a 3-run homer and also walked.

Sox Summary: Sox throw away another win, Rays take in walk-off fashion

Dan Johnson, who came in hitting .130 this season, celebrates his walk-off home run against the Red Sox on Saturday. (James Borchuck/St. Petersburg Times)

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Saturday, August 28, 2010) – Key fielding errors came back to haunt the Red Sox as the Rays came back to win the second game of the series, 3-2 in 10 innings, on Saturday night at Tropicana Field. The Rays remain tied atop the AL East with the Yankees and dropping Boston 5.5 games back. Boston has now lost two of the last three, but won five of seven.

In the first, the Sox got off to a 1-0 lead as Adrian Beltre hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Victor Martinez.

J.D. Drew made a crucial and controversial play in the seventh inning by tracking down a Matt Joyce ball in foul territory. The down side was that Carlos Pena came in the back door to tie the score with two outs.

The teams traded home runs in the eighth inning as Victor Martinez put the Sox ahead temporarily on a solo shot to right field (13) with two out in the top of the inning, while B.J. Upton re-tied the game with no outs in the bottom of the inning on a solo shot to left (13).

Scott Atchison came in for the tenth, which would last eight pitches as Dan Johnson hit a walk-off solo home run to right-center field (2) sending Tropicana Field into a frenzy. For Johnson it was a deja vu as he hit a memorable blast against the Sox in 2008 at Fenway Park after he had just been called up from Triple-A Durham on September 9. He arrived late due to travel woes and pinch hit against Jonathan Papelbon.

Atchison was the victim tonight, picking up his second loss without recording an out. Clay Buchholz picked a solid game, allowing just four hits and two runs over 7.1 innings.

Matt Garza started for the Rays and did not disappoint either, allowing six hits and a run over seven innings in a no-decision. Randy Choate recorded the final out against the Red Sox in the tenth to earn the win, his fourth this season. 

The Red Sox look to take two of three from the Rays on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball when John Lackey makes an important start against James Shields.

Sox Summary: V-Mart homers twice, Lester earns win as Sox take game one in Tampa

Victor Martinez led the Red Sox to a win with two home runs. (AP)

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Friday, August 27, 2010) - Victor Martinez homered twice and Jon Lester seven, two-hit innings as the Red Sox took game one from the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-1, on Friday at Tropicana Field. The win snaps a five-game home winning streak for the Rays, who have lost two games in a row. The Sox have won five of their last six games.

Martinez and the Sox got right to work in the first inning as he hit his first solo home run of the game into the third row of bleachers in left field (11) for a 1-0 advantage with two outs.

Jed Lowrie made it 2-0 on a bloop single to center field with two outs in the fourth as David Ortiz came in easily from third. The Rays got their only run in the bottom of the inning as Jason Bartlett scored on a wild pitch by Jon Lester with one out.

In the seventh, Victor Martinez hit his second home run of the game to deep left field (12) with two outs giving the Sox much needed insurance.

Jon Lester earned the win, his 14th this season, allowing just two hits and an unearned run over seven innings. He struggled a little with control as he walked five, but struck out ten. Jonathan Papelbon issued two walks, but came back with three strikeouts for his 33rd save. David Price took the loss as he allowed ten hits and three runs over seven innings to fall to 15-6.

The Sox look to keep it going on Saturday night as Clay Buchholz faces Matt Garza.

Red Sox Today: August 27 at Rays

7:10 p.m., NESN/WEEI

RED SOX (73-55)
16 Marco Scutaro SS
54 Darnell McDonald CF
41 Victor Martinez C
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
34 David Ortiz DH
25 Mike Lowell 1B
7 J.D. Drew RF
12 Jed Lowrie 2B
22 Bill Hall LF

31 Jon Lester LHP

RAYS (78-49)
2 B.J. Upton CF
8 Jason Bartlett SS
23 Carlos Pena 1B
3 Evan Longoria 3B
16 Willy Aybar DH
18 Ben Zobrist RF
1 Sean Rodriguez 2B
10 Kevin Shoppach C
20 Matt Joyce LF

14 David Price LHP

* The third-place Red Sox and second-place Rays open up a vital three-game weekend series at Tropicana Field that could very well determine Boston’s playoff fate. The Sox have won four of their last five games and took two out of three against Seattle at Fenway Park in their series this week. The Rays are on a roll of late, having won nine of their last 13 games. The Sox are 4-8 against the Rays this season, including 3-3 at the Trop. This marks the final season series meeting between the teams in St. Petersburg.

On the road again: The Red Sox tonight begin a seven-day, six-game road trip with the first of three games in Tampa Bay. After an off-day on Monday, the club visits Baltimore from Tuesday through Thursday. Following the road trip, Boston hosts a seven-day, seven-game homestand against the White Sox (September 3-5) and Rays (September 6-8). Of Boston’s remaining 34 regular season games, 19 will be played on the road and 15 will be at Fenway Park. The Sox have won 8 of their last 13 contests away from Fenway, while they have won or split 11 of their last 15 series on the road.

For the Record: The Sox are 73-55, good for third in the A.L. East and tied for sixth-best in the Majors. The club has won or split 24 of 29 series since May 17 and 29 of 37 since April 20. The Sox sit third in the division and second in the Wild Card race, 5.5 games behind the Yankees and Rays, who are tied for the top spot.

Rehab Updates: Eric Patterson and Jarrod Saltalamacchia are both slated to begin rehab assignments with Triple-A Pawtucket tonight as they face Rochester (MIN) at Frontier Field. Patterson has been on the disabled list since August 17 with a neck strain, while Saltalamacchia has been sidelined with a lower leg infection since August 19. Hideki Okajima finished his assignment with the PawSox, but will not be activated today after throwing a 30-pitch side session.

Injury Update: Tonight’s originally-scheduled starter Daisuke Matsuzaka was scratched with a back problem and is now slated to close the roadtrip on Thursday in Baltimore.