Losers of Three Straight, Red Sox Look to Stop Skid Against David Price in Series Finale

The Red Sox will look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays when the clubs meet Wednesday night.

The Rays have taken each of the first two games by one run apiece. In Tuesday's 3-2 victory, Jeff Niemann improved to 7-2 and helped drop the Sox to 6-7 over their last 13 games.

It doesn't get any easier for Boston, which waits on the condition of star first baseman Kevin Youkilis. The candidate for the final spot on the American League All-Star team suffered a right ankle injury Tuesday and left in the fourth inning.

Also, David Price is on the mound, looking to become the first 12-game winner in the AL. Tim Wakefield goes for Boston.

WHEN AND WHERE

Red Sox (49-35) at Rays (50-33)
Wednesday, July 7, 7:10 p.m.
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.

HEAD TO HEAD

Tampa Bay has won seven of 11 matchups this year.

PITCHING MATCHUP

RHP Tim Wakefield (3-6, 4.96 ERA) vs. LHP David Price (11-4, 2.42 ERA)

Wakefield has quietly been one of the Red Sox' most consistent performers of late.

Since a pair of rough starts around Memorial Day weekend, the 43-year-old is 2-2 with a 3.25 ERA in five outings. He continues to sport one of the best strikeout-to-walk ratios of his career, now at 2.55 after another stellar outing against Baltimore last Friday.

In a 3-2 victory at Fenway Park, Wakefield allowed two runs in eight innings, striking out four and walking one. He is 20-5 all-time against Tampa Bay and 10-3 at Tropicana Field.

Price is a candidate to start in the upcoming All-Star game, but he has been a tough-luck loser of late. The 24-year-old is 1-2 over his last three starts, despite posting a 2.86 ERA.

Price is 1-1 with a 4.76 mark against Boston.

LINEUPS

STAT SHEET

Red Sox

• Designated hitter David Ortiz has drawn six walks in the last two games, four of them intentional.
• Left fielder Daniel Nava is 7-for-12 (.583) with seven RBIs with two outs and runners in scoring position.
• The Boston bullpen has given up 37 home runs, the most in the majors.

Rays

• Since a 12-19 stretch, Tampa Bay has won six of seven.
• Closer Rafael Soriano has pitched in four straight games.
• Second baseman Sean Rodriguez is 11-for-27 (.407) in July.

BLACK AND BLUE

Red Sox

• Youkilis left Tuesdays' loss with right ankle pain. He hopes to be in the lineup.
• Josh Beckett threw a four-inning simulated game Tuesday at Tropicana Field. He reported no issues and is expected to start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday.
• Right-hander Clay Buchholz was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday with a left hamstring strain. The move is retroactive to June 27, the day after he suffered the injury running the bases in San Francisco.
• Jason Varitek (foot) and Manny Delcarmen (forearm) were placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday.
• Second baseman Dustin Pedroia was placed on the 15-day disabled list last Saturday with a fracture in his left foot. He suffered the injury when he fouled a ball off his foot the day before. He will not put any weight on the foot for 2-3 weeks before being re-examined.
• Catcher Victor Martinez was put on the DL on Tuesday with a minimally displaced fracture on the tip of his left thumb, suffered after taking two foul balls off the thumb during last Sunday's game in San Francisco.
• Outfielder Jeremy Hermida was placed on the DL on June 11 after an MRI revealed five fractured ribs, the result of a collision with third baseman Adrian Beltre one week earlier. Hermida is swinging and doing outfield and base running drills.
• An MRI conducted June 9 revealed a new fracture in outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury's ribs. Ellsbury, who was placed on the DL on May 28 for the second time this year, has been at the Athletes' Performance center in Arizona for three weeks but has yet to resume baseball activities.
• Mike Lowell is eligible to return from the DL as soon as Friday but will remain sidelined beyond that date with a sore right hip.
• Infielder Jed Lowrie remains on the DL after coming down with mononucleosis during spring training. He is playing in extended spring training games.
• Righty Junichi Tazawa underwent Tommy John surgery in March. He is out for the year.

Rays

• Reliever J.P. Howell is out for the season after left shoulder surgery.

OUTLOOK

With so many players on the sidelines and so many road games on the upcoming schedule, the Sox are treading some dangerous waters right now. Getting Youkilis back will do them wonders, as will another quality start for Wakefield.

Boston's bullpen is beat up and Price presents a formidable foe for the bats, adding even more significance to Wakefield's outing.

The Sox have not lost four in a row since a five-game skid in mid-April, a slide which included Tampa Bay's four-game sweep in Fenway Park.