Postgame, Rays 6-4: Terry Francona said that Kevin Youkilis should be OK going forward, despite the fact that the standout first baseman was limping often during Wednesday's loss and had to have his right ankle taped multiple times. With the way the series went, you take whatever good news you can get.
Youkilis will hopefully be in the lineup when the Sox open a three-game series in Toronto on Friday. Jon Lester squares off with Ricky Romero in a great matchup of young lefties.
If Boston needed anyone on the mound it would be Lester. The club is reeling right now, losing four in a row and dropping to 6-8 since it finished the Manny Ramirez-laced homestand last month.
Final, Rays 6-4: Cue the cowbells, folks. The Sox make some noise in the ninth but the mountain was too high, due to the dominant effort by David Price and some sloppy play early on by your boys from Boston.
That's four straight losses for the Sox, who mercifully get a day off Thursday before opening a three-game set in Toronto on Friday.
We will sum this all up for you in a bit.
10:19 p.m.: Darnell McDonald's RBI double and a walk to David Ortiz has Kevin Youkilis up against Matt Garza with the tying runs on base.
10:05 p.m.: There is still a bit of drama at The Trop. Matt Garza, who was blistered by the Sox the other night, is coming on in relief for the Rays with one out and a runner at first. This is the third career relief appearance for Garza.
10:01 p.m.: Daniel Nava triples and comes in on a sac fly by Mike Cameron to get the Sox within three. Grant Balfour is being removed by Rays manager Joe Maddon.
End 8th, Rays 6-2: Robert Manuel does his job to keep the Sox within shouting distance entering the ninth. The bottom of the Boston order is due up, including Mike Cameron, who is 3-for-3 with a home run.
Mid 8th, Rays 6-2: Three more outs for the Sox to try and salvage something of this series. If they do rally they may be able to take advantage of the fact that Rays closer Rafael Soriano has thrown a ton of late and may not be available. That's a big 'if' at this point.
9:41 p.m.: David Price was simply too much for the Sox in this one, but at least they've gotten him out of the game. Adrian Beltre's double with two outs in the eight forces Joe Maddon to make the move.
On a much more important note, Kevin Youkilis continues to be very hobbled and was wincing in pain after flying out for the second out of the eighth. It's been a rough series for Youk, who is now 1-for-9 and had a misplay that helped the Rays get a run in the sixth.
I know you are all well intentioned in voting for Youkilis to get that final All-Star spot, but if you know what's good for the Sox, vote in Nick Swisher. Youk needs a few days to put his feet up.
End 7th, Rays 6-2: It is strange to see Jonathan Papelbon out there in the seventh, something we haven't witnessed in nearly five years. But he had not thrown since Friday and really needed to get an inning in, regardless of the score.
Paps gets through it with ease and Daniel Bard will be available if and when the Sox rally.
Mid 7th, Rays 6-2: If not for Mike Cameron, an ugly effort by the Sox would be even uglier. He has three of their seven hits and now one of their two RBIs after a solo homer one out into the seventh.
David Price has reached the 10-strikeout mark after fanning Marco Scutaro and Darnell McDonald to end the seventh.
Scutaro was not pleased with home plate umpire Todd Tichenor's called third strike. The Sox as a whole have not been completely pleased with their run-ins with Tichenor in the past.
In dire need of work, Jonathan Papelbon is in to pitch the seventh.
End 6th, Rays 6-1: Evan Longoria pops out to end one of the longest one-run rallies you will ever witness. David Price sat on the bench for a long time so we will see if it has an impact. He has thrown 87 pitches.
9:11 p.m.: Dustin Richardson comes on and throws 12 pitches to Carl Crawford in an at bat that felt like an hour. Richardson loses the battle as Crawford knocks an RBI single up through the box and the Rays are up five again.
The Sox were nearly out of the inning twice, once when Adrian Beltre fell into the first row of the stands going for a foul pop and then again when Ben Zobrist was caught by Richardson breaking for second but Kevin Youkilis couldn't get the ball out of his glove cleanly.
Zobrist then came in on Crawford's hit.
Ramon Ramirez has replaced Richardson.
9:00 p.m.: Tim Wakefield's night ends after he issues his sixth walk of the night. Dustin Richardson trots in with two outs and a runner at first.
By the way, Marco Scutaro's throwing error in the fourth was changed to an infield hit for B.J. Upton. Not sure I agree with the ruling, but it leaves Boston with two miscues now.
Mid 6th, Rays 5-1: An RBI double by David Ortiz in the sixth gives the Sox a little life. Still, they have scored just three times in their last 20 innings. Just too many easier outs in the lineup these days.
Adrian Beltre has struck out three times on a total of 11 pitches from David Price, every single one of them fastballs.
End 5th, Rays 5-0: If the Sox do in fact win it all this year, let's just keep this one off the commemorative DVD. They've committed three errors already, the latest a gaffe by Bill Hall at second base which spoiled a potential inning-ending double play and allowed the third run to come in during a messy fifth.
Tim Wakefield has hurt himself with five walks (one intentional) but he deserves a better fate. The only infielder without an error is Kevin Youkilis and the Rays got their first run of the inning on a Kevin Cash passed ball with a runner on third.
Mid 5th, Rays 2-0: Mike Cameron is 2-for-2 against David Price. The rest of the Red Sox' lineup is 1-for-17 with seven strikeouts. To make matters worse for those not named Cameron, Kevin Youkilis was getting his right ankle taped in the Boston dugout during the top of the fifth.
Youkilis came down funny on Marco Scutaro's high throwing error in the fourth.
End 4th, Rays 2-0: Evan Longoria was one of the few Tampa Bay players with good numbers against Tim Wakefield coming into this one. He is now 6-for-11 lifetime against the Red Sox starter after a mammoth solo shot in the fourth. It was the harbinger of things to come for Boston.
Wakefield lost the plate for a bit, walking two and uncorking a wild pitch to move the runners up. With the infield in and one out, Marco Scutaro fielded a grounder and looked home before throwing too high to first base.
The run would've come in anyway but it goes in the books as the second Boston error and it also caused Kevin Youkilis to come down awkwardly and limp around a bit at first, not what the Sox needed to see.
Perhaps tired of his defense failing him, Wakefield picked off Reid Brignac for the last out. That could've been a lot worse than a two-run inning.
Mid 4th, 0-0: This is getting ridiculous. David Price has seven strikeouts through four and still has thrown just one off-speed pitch all night, a changeup in the third. Three of his strikeout victims have gone down on three pitches.
The Sox are pros — they know what's going on out there. They are simply unable to handle the heat in this one.
End 3rd, 0-0: The way David Price is throwing, the Sox will need a good effort from Tim Wakefield. They are getting it thus far. Wakefield works a 1-2-3 third and picks up his second strikeout on a doozy of a knuckleball to Ben Zobrist.
Saw this stat and thought it was sort of interesting. Carl Crawford has 87 career at bats against Wakefield, but has drawn just one walk.
Now, Crawford has never been known as a guy who draws a ton of walks, but you figure a few knuckleballs have to miss from time to time.
Mid 3rd, 0-0: David Price's 40th pitch was the first non-fastball he throws all night. It was a changeup that Marco Scutaro took for a ball.
Two pitches later (both fastballs), Scutaro hit into a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning and three pitches after that (again, all fastballs), Price had his fifth strikeout of the game and was out of the inning.
Mike Cameron had singled to start things off.
End 2nd, 0-0: It was a Tim Wakefield special in the bottom of the second. A leadoff single essentially becomes a triple after the requisite stolen base and wild pitch, which are always issues when Wakefield is on the mound.
However, his knuckler flummoxes Matt Joyce for the first out of the inning, gets B.J. Upton to ground to third for the second out (with the infield in) and produces a weak pop off the bat of Reid Brignac.
Getting a runner to third with no outs and failing to score…that could come back to hurt the Rays.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: According to Fangraphs.com, David Price throws his fastball 70.8 percent of the time. That number figures to soar after this one — all 27 of his pitches in this one have been heaters. The strategy, while a tad unorthodox, is working.
Daniel Nava strikes out to end the second, the fourth K already for Price.
End 1st, 0-0: Adrian Beltre committed his American League-leading 14th error of the season with two outs in the first, but Tim Wakefield was able to escape without any issues. Wake has quietly been very solid of late, a scenario which has become a bit lost amid all the injuries and the bigger storylines with his fellow starters.
Entering this one, Wake is 2-2 with a 3.25 ERA over his last five starts. He also ranks seventh in the AL with just 1.91 walks per nine innings.
Mid 1st, 0-0: David Price threw 15 pitches in the first inning, each one of them a fastball. The last 11 were either 95 or 96 mph and the final one resulted in a swinging strike three by Kevin Youkilis.
Darnell McDonald turned one of those heaters around for a one-out single but he was erased on a David Ortiz groundout.
7:03 p.m.: If previous patterns hold true, the Sox are in a bit of trouble in this one. Tampa Bay won the first four meetings between the teams this season, followed by four straight victories by Boston. The Rays have claimed the last three head-to-heads. Another win would keep the pattern alive and give the Sox their first four-game losing streak since mid-April.
I mentioned earlier that Joe Maddon's lineups are a bit wacky at times, and always changing. For Wednesday's game he is benching two of the more productive hitters he has against Tim Wakefield.
Gabe Kapler, who started Tuesday night, is 7-for-19 (.368) with three walks and four stolen bases vs. Wakefield. Jason Bartlett is 6-for-21 (.286) with three doubles and a homer. Both are on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, of the six other Rays starters who have faced the knuckleballer, four are batting .208 or lower.
Evan Longoria is the one to watch, posting a .556 (5-for-9) mark in such matchups.
6:10 p.m.: We will have a Jacoby Ellsbury sighting when the Red Sox head to Toronto this weekend, meaning the injured outfielder may be able to resume some baseball activities soon after his long rehab stint in Arizona, Terry Francona said earlier Wednesday.
Ellsbury has been at the Athletes' Performance Institute for roughly a month. After the series in Toronto he will travel back to Boston and then eventually to Fort Myers, where he can continue to rehab with the Gulf Coast League squad.
In other news, Manny Delcarmen threw a side session and is on track to return after the All-Star break.
Also, Jed Lowrie will play shortstop and third base for the Lowell Spinners as he continues his rehab stint there. Francona indicated last week that Lowrie, who would be a valuable piece for the Sox right now, will need all 20 days of the rehab process, given how much time he has missed. He, like many others, could be in the mix later in July or early August.
As for Victor Martinez, Francona again gave no specific date for his return. Although the club indicated when it placed V-Mart on the DL that it would be just a 15-day thing, don't bank on it. Francona said last week at Fenway Park that they were "hopeful" that that would be the case, but seemed to leave the door open for a longer stay on the sidelines.
Get used to seeing Kevin Cash.
5:26 p.m.: It's been a treat to wait for the Rays' lineup of late. While Red Sox manager Terry Francona has been forced to make changes on an everyday basis, Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon seems to do so just for kicks. He has among the healthiest teams in the bigs, yet has a wildly different look each night out, almost more so than beaten up Boston.
In this series alone, the Rays' have had a different hitter in each game in spots 5-9. After Willy Aybar batted cleanup in the first two games, Carlos Pena, who has hit seventh and sixth, is in there Wednesday.
B.J. Upton was on the bench for the opener, batted leadoff Tuesday and is now in the seventh spot.
Three different players have started in right field, two at catcher, two at shortstop, two at DH, and two at center field.
Here is the latest Maddon creation:
Ben Zobrist, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Carlos Pena, 1B
Sean Rodriguez, 2B
Matt Joyce, DH
B.J. Upton, CF
Reid Brignac, SS
Kelly Shoppach, C
4:28 p.m.: Among the updates from The Trop includes the arrival of first baseman Ryan Shealy, who is up from Pawtucket. No formal move has been announced as of yet, but it figures to be Niuman Romero going back down. The club simply needed a more formidable back-up to Kevin Youkilis after Tuesday night's affair.
For those of you unfamiliar with Shealy, he has seen major league action with both Colorado and Kansas City and was once a pretty highly touted prospect in the Rockies' system.
Interestingly enough, the 30-year-old, who shares a birthday with yours truly, was in the Rays' system until he was released in June. The Sox picked him up two days later.
4:19 p.m.: It appears as if the Red Sox have dodged a major bullet with Kevin Youkilis, who will be in his customary cleanup role for Wednesday's finale with the Rays.
Here is the complete lineup against Tampa Bay starter David Price:
Marco Scutaro, SS
Darnell McDonald, RF
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Bill Hall, 2B
Daniel Nava, LF
Mike Cameron, CF
Kevin Cash, C
More updates to come in a bit.
8:30 a.m.: The last time the Red Sox had lost as many as four in a row, they were getting swept by the Tampa Bay Rays back in mid-April.
Boston hopes to avoid a similar fate when it takes on the Rays in the finale of a three-game set on Wednesday night.
It won't be easy. Not only are the Sox continuing to suffer injuries, they have to face All-Star lefty David Price.
Hopefully, Boston will have Kevin Youkilis as part of that effort. Youkilis left Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Rays with right ankle pain, but both he and manager Terry Francona indicated that he might be available to play Wednesday.
We will have the updates on that situation as they come.
Tim Wakefield gets the start for the Sox, who are 6-7 in their last 13 games.
First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
