By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Rays at Red Sox
When/where: 1:35 today; Fenway Park, Boston
TV/radio: Sun Sports; 970-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)
Starting pitchers:
Rays:
LH David Price (12-12, 3.34)
Red Sox:
RH Tim Wakefield (7-6, 5.13)
Watch for …
Price check: Price is winless in three September starts, having held and given away a lead each time. He is 3-1, 2.70 in four starts vs. the Sox this season, 6-3, 3.07 in nine overall, including 3-0, 1.25 at Fenway.
Float like a butterfly: The knuckleballing Wakefield finally earned his 200th win Tuesday. After starting 17-2 against the Rays, he is 2-5, 7.24 in his past nine starts, with a 3.71 ERA overall.
Key matchups
Rays vs. Wakefield
Johnny Damon 21-for-68, 4 HRs
Evan Longoria 6-for-14, HR
B.J. Upton 7-for-33, HR
Red Sox vs. Price
Darnell McDonald 6-for-19, 2 HRs
Dustin Pedroia 7-for-15, HR
Marco Scutaro 3-for-22
On deck
Monday: Off
Tuesday: at Yankees, 7:05, Sun Sports. Rays — Wade Davis (10-9, 4.41); Yankees — Phil Hughes (5-5, 6.00)
Wednesday: at Yankees, 1:05 and 7:05, Sun Sports. Rays — James Shields (15-11, 2.78) and Jeremy Hellickson (13-10, 2.91); Yankees — CC Sabathia (19-8, 3.01) and Ivan Nova (15-4, 3.81)
Thursday: at Yankees, 7:05, Sun Sports. Rays — Jeff Niemann (11-7, 3.95); Yankees — TBA
"Compliment" of the day
Red Sox manager Terry Francona likes to play the self-deprecating, average guy, so he laughed at himself for using the word "conundrum" in his pregame media session. "If I knew how to tweet, I'd tweet that," Francona said. "Maybe Joe Maddon will for me."
Promise of the day
Manager Joe Maddon is already sporting the longest hair on the team. He said Saturday that if the Rays make the playoffs, he will wear his hair in a ponytail.
Time warp of the day
The Rays will be sporting their new 1970s-style team letterman sweaters again after today's game, then ride the rails as they take a train to New York.
Rays 4, Red Sox 3
Tampa Bay AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Jennings lf 3 2 1 0 1 1 .292
B.Upton cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .236
Longoria 3b 3 0 1 1 1 0 .244
Zobrist 2b 4 1 1 2 0 1 .269
Damon dh 3 0 1 0 1 0 .261
S.Rodriguez ss 2 0 0 0 1 0 .218
Brignac ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 .193
Kotchman 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .309
Guyer rf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .212
Fuld rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .240
Lobaton c 3 0 0 0 0 2 .074
Totals 30 4 6 3 4 5
Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Ellsbury cf 3 0 1 2 0 1 .318
Pedroia 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .298
Ad.Gonzalez 1b 2 0 0 0 2 2 .336
D.Ortiz dh 3 0 0 0 1 0 .315
Reddick rf 2 0 1 0 1 0 .289
C.Jackson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .246
D.McDonald rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .211
Saltalamacchia c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .243
C.Crawford lf 4 2 2 0 0 1 .254
Aviles 3b 4 1 3 1 0 1 .261
Gathright pr 0 0 0 0 0 0—-
Scutaro ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .288
Totals 30 3 7 3 4 10
Tampa Bay 201 010 000— 4 6 0
Boston 002 000 100— 3 7 0
LOB—T.B. 4, Bos. 6. 2B—Jennings (9), Aviles (15). HR—Zobrist (16), off Lester. RBIs—Longoria (92), Zobrist 2 (84), Ellsbury 2 (96), Aviles (35). SB—Ellsbury (37), Gathright (1). CS—Damon (5), Ellsbury (14). S—B.Upton, Scutaro. SF—Ellsbury. RISP—T.B. 2 (Zobrist, Guyer); Bos. 4 (C.Crawford, Saltalamacchia, Pedroia, Scutaro). Runners moved up—B.Upton, Longoria, Kotchman, Ellsbury. GIDP—Kotchman, Saltalamacchia. DP—T.B. 1 (Longoria, S.Rodriguez, Kotchman); Bos. 1 (Ad.Gonzalez, Scutaro, Lester).
Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Niemann W, 11-7 5 4 2 2 2 6 89 3.95
M.Moore H, 1 3 2 1 1 2 2 58 6.23
Jo.Peralta S, 4-6 1 1 0 0 0 2 19 3.13
Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Lester L, 15-8 7 5 4 4 4 5 107 3.15
D.Bard 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 3.01
F.Morales 1 1 0 0 0 0 10 3.64
WP—M.Moore, Lester. Balk—F.Morales. T—3:12. A—37,682 (37,065).
How they scored
Rays first
Jennings walked on four pitches. B.Upton sacrificed, third baseman Aviles to first baseman Ad.Gonzalez, Jennings to second. Longoria grounded out, second baseman Pedroia to first baseman Ad.Gonzalez, Jennings to third. Zobrist homered to left on a 1-1 count, Jennings scored. Damon popped out to catcher Saltalamacchia. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Rays 2, Red Sox 0.
Rays third
Lobaton struck out. Jennings doubled to left. B.Upton grounded out, shortstop Scutaro to first baseman Ad.Gonzalez, Jennings to third. Longoria walked on a full count. On Lester's wild pitch, Jennings scored. Zobrist flied out to center fielder Ellsbury. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Rays 3, Red Sox 0.
Red Sox third
C.Crawford singled to center. Aviles doubled to center, C.Crawford scored. Scutaro sacrificed, pitcher Niemann to first baseman Kotchman, Aviles to third. Ellsbury hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Guyer, Aviles scored. Pedroia struck out. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Rays 3, Red Sox 2.
Rays fifth
Guyer singled to left. Lobaton popped out to second baseman Pedroia. Jennings flied out to center fielder Ellsbury. B.Upton singled to center, Guyer to second. Longoria singled to right, Guyer scored, B.Upton to third. Zobrist struck out. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Rays 4, Red Sox 2.
Red Sox seventh
C.Crawford singled to center. Aviles infield single to shortstop, C.Crawford to second. Scutaro grounded into fielder's choice, third baseman Longoria to shortstop Brignac, C.Crawford to third, Aviles out. On M.Moore's wild pitch, Scutaro to second. Ellsbury grounded out, shortstop Brignac to first baseman Kotchman, C.Crawford scored, Scutaro to third. Pedroia struck out. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Rays 4, Red Sox 3.