Postgame, Rays 8-6: If this game happened in the regular season it would be talked about for days.
The Red Sox rally from a 5-0 deficit with one in the fifth, three in the fourth and then two in the ninth, the first on a controversial homer by Oscar Tejeda and the second on a no-doubter by Drew Sutton.
Tampa Bay comes right back with a single and a double to tie it before Robinson Chirinos.
This was one of three road games the Red Sox will play in two days. They are splitting up again Friday, half the squad going to Kissimmee to take on Houston and the other half making the short bus ride to Hammond Stadium for a meeting with Minnesota.
We will be at the Twins game to carry you all the action in that one. Thanks for following along and sorry for some of the mistakes today…less-than-ideal conditions. Have a good night.
Final, Rays 8-6: Well, the Rays have their number. What more can you say?
Tampa Bay improves to 6-0-1 against Boston in the last two springs on a two-run homer by Robinson Chirinos in the bottom of the ninth. Casey Kotchman had an RBI single earlier in the frame.
Off for Tito. Back soon.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 6-5: The cardiac kids are at it again!
Winners of four straight games all by one run and all on the muscle of their young players in camp, the Red Sox are on the verge of another tight victory.
This one has come with drama. Oscar Tejeda just hit a shot to the gap in left-center field. The relay came into third base, where Tejeda was sliding in with his third triple of the spring.
The ball got past third base and Tejeda sprinted home, but was thrown out. However, the second base umpire had ruled a home run. Just that nobody saw it.
Joe Maddon went out to argue, and the second he got back in the dugout, Drew Sutton lined a homer to right to snap the tie.
Crazy stuff. Alfredo Aceves still on for the final three outs.
End 8th, Rays 5-4: That is now seven scoreless innings for Alfredo Aceves and this time he finally picks up a strikeout, pulling the string on Sean Rodriguez to finish the eighth.
It’s only natural to think about the prospect of a full-fledged Daisuke Matsuzak-Alfredo Aceves battle. We discussed his plenty after their prior outings and the talk may intensify going forward. The Sox will give Matsuzaka every opportunity to be the No. 5 guy all season. Aceves still stands as a depth guy, but with every clean inning his stock only rises, especially compared to what we have seen from Matsuzaka so far.
Mid 8th, Rays 5-4: It has been an interesting 18 hours or so for Yamaico Navarro.
If you recall, he was hit in the hand with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give the Red Sox an odd walk-off win Wednesday night vs. Baltimore.
Navarro is back in action and got his first at-bat in this one in the eighth. Sure enough, a ball comes sailing up and in at him, striking his bat for nothing more than a foul ball. The very next pitch Navarro grounds to third to begin a 5-4-3 double play.
Mike Cameron had a ringing single up the middle earlier in the frame.
Alfredo Aceves on the mound for the eighth.
End 7th, Rays 5-4: The leadoff man reaches, but Alfredo Aceves gets the next three outs.
Aceves has yet to allow an earned run in six innings this spring. He also has yet to record a strikeout. Obviously pitching to contact and it’s working.
Mid 7th, Rays 5-4: After Nate Spears’ two-run single in the sixth, Tim Federowicz added an RBI single to get Boston within a run.
Daniel Bard worked a clean bottom of the sixth.
We have heard from Daisuke Matsuzaka. Although he said he was going to treat this game a little more like the regular season, he admitted he is still tinkering with some things and having issues with his cutter.
The bullpen sessions have gone well, Matsuzaka said, but nothing is carrying over to competition.
“The result didn’t come out as I expected,” he said. “The result is not following through in games.”
Will have more on Matsuzaka after hearing from Terry Francona after the game.
2:47 p.m.: Off to hear from Daisuke Matsuzaka as Nate Spears just ripped a two-run triple. Tampa up 5-3.
Mid 6th, Rays 5-1: Reid Brignac made another sensational play to get Carl Crawford on a force play at second base in the sixth. Might have to get used to the Rays new shortstop, who looks extremely solid.
The result of that play left Mike Cameron at first with one out.
End 5th, Rays 5-1: Andrew Miller has another impressive inning for the Red Sox.
He struck out Ben Zobrist on a 3-2 offering and then retired Johnny Damon and Evan Longoria. It sounded like he broke Longoria’s bat on what was a weak fly to center.
Mid 5th, Rays 5-1: Some nice signs in the top of the fifth inning. Rays manager Joe Maddon brought in a sidewinding lefty named RJ Swindle, but Ryan Kalish and Nate Spears — both lefties — knocked singles into right.
The pair later executed a double steal and Kalish scored on an Oscar Tejeda RBI groundout.
Jose Iglesias later beat out an infield hit. I think he has about four of those already, so keep that in mind when looking at his hefty average.
Andrew Miller remains on the mound. He got the final out of the fourth.
End 4th, Rays 5-0: Carl Crawford just gave Red Sox fans one of the big reasons he was brought into hte fold, and one of the things that Rays fans will always remember him for.
Charging in from left on a sinking liner, Crawford made a marvelous diving grab of a ball just inches off the ground. It ended the bottom of the fourth with a runner on.
2:09 p.m.: Daisuke Matsuzaka gets the first two outs of the fourth and then is relieved of his duties. Not a great step forward, but he did end on a slightly better note, something Terry Francona stressed before the game.
Mid 4th, Rays 5-0: Daisuke Matsuzaka is out there for a fourth inning of work, or at least one portion of it. His spring ERA is 12.38.
End 3rd, Rays 5-0: Doubles by Ben Zobrist and Johnny Damon give the Rays a fourth run and another RBI single by Matt Joyce adds a fifth. Not good times for Daisuke here. We will see if he gets another inning.
Alfredo Aceves is moving around in the pen.
1:54 p.m.: Sorry about the Matt Joyce-John Jaso error. The lineup was shuffled pregame but I never got a new one. My mistake.
Mid 3rd, Rays 3-0: The Red Sox got a single from Jose Iglesias with one out in the third. Jacoby Ellsbury then hit a hard grounder to second that kicked off an inning-ending double play.
This is a big inning or two for Daisuke Matsuzaka before he finishes. Terry Francona talked about finishing strong in these spring outings, even if they don’t start out the right way.
“He is still preparing for the season,” Francona said. “That’s the luxury of spring training. If a guy pitches three innings and the first two are terrible and the last one’s good, you build off of it. That’s what spring training is all about. You take the good….during the season you can’t do that necessarily. Usually you get caught up with numbers and trends but he’s four, five innings into spring training, so not too big a sample size.”
End 2nd, Rays 3-0: Daisuke Matsuzaka was a strike from getting through the second inning without an issue, but a belt-high fastball was smoked deep to right by John Jaso.
Ryan Kalish could only watch.
That’s the third home runs in seven innings off Matsuzaka.
Mid 2nd, Rays 2-0: Andy Sonnanstine had surrendered 10 runs in four innings (five home runs in that span!) coming into this one.
Just one single for the Red Sox through two frames, however. Back to Daisuke Matsuzaka, who will be followed by Alfredo Aceves, the one guy who could chase down Matsuzaka’s job at some point this season.
End 1st, Rays 2-0: Consecutive walks to start the first inning set up the Rays against Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Evan Longoria then worked a 3-1 count and hammered a pitch right down the middle right up the middle for an RBI single. A sacrifice fly added a run before a 5-4-3 double play got Matsuzaka out of the mess.
Dice-K has given up 10 runs — eight earned — in six innings so far.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Reid Brignac is looking to nail down the starting shortstop gig for the Rays. He made an outstanding diving play to his backhand side to throw out Mike Cameron.
It finished a 1-2-3 inning for Andy Sonnanstine. The second out was a looping liner to third off the bat of Carl Crawford in his first at-bat against his old mates.
1:07 p.m.: Very nice hand for Carl Crawford as he comes up in the first. A man near me yelled, “Carl, we love you, but that’s the last time I’ll say it.”
1:04 p.m.: You will have stories on Ryan Westmoreland, Johnny Damon and Carl Crawford in time. Just working through some kinks right now.
Small notes on the Sox side.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia is back with the team after tending to a family issue. He is working out in Fort Myers today and will team with Jason Varitek as the catchers in the split-squad game at Minnesota on Friday.
Yamaico Navarro is just fine. He is with the team and just has a bruise after taking one off his hand last night.
Jacoby Ellsbury just dug in so we are underway.
12:06 p.m.: The tarp is off and the rain has stopped for now so we may get start this one on time, or thereabouts.
We heard from Johnny Damon earlier and will have a quick take on him in a moment. It was interesting to see Terry Francona’s reactions to a question about Manny Ramirez and then one on Johnny Damon. His responses were like night and day.
That, my friends, is a tease.
Carl Crawford admitted to having some nerves today, but is happy he is getting this out of the way early on, knowing there will be many meetings between the two teams coming up. One funny moment in his press conference came when a Tampa reporter asked him what the biggest difference was between playing for the Rays and playing for the Red Sox.
Looking up at a media mob some 25-30 strong, he said, “This!”
11:43 a.m.: Ok, where to start.
How about the Wrath-of-God rainstorm that caused most of us to pull over on I-75 for several minutes this morning. It is still raining, a perfect time to get thrust into the outside auxiliary press box.
After wiping down my workspace I am ready to take you through this one, which will consist of weather updates for now.
The wet stuff was enough to scratch Manny Ramirez from the Rays’ lineup. Since I am alone in the outdoor press box I have no clue who is replacing him, but it won’t matter much since we are robbed of a Manny sighting.
Some things to look for today. Carl Crawford just met with a mob of Boston and Tampa Bay reporters. Look for video of that press conference on the site in a bit.
We have team coverage in rainy southwest Florida today. Heidi Watney is down at the player development complex, where prospect Ryan Westmoreland was set to take batting practice and meet the media.
I’ll have a few more news and notes items in a few minutes. Thanks for bearing with me.
11:08 a.m.: Ellsbury will be leading off, followed by former Rays outfielder, Carl Crawford:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Carl Crawford, LF
Mike Cameron, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
Ryan Kalish, RF
Nate Spears, 1B
Paul Hoover, C
Oscar Tejeda, 2B
Jose Iglesias, SS
8 a.m.: Daisuke Matsuzaka said after getting roughed up a bit his last time out that his third start of the spring will be a bit more like “the regular season.” The Red Sox do not need to see regular-season results, but a smoother outing would be nice.
Matsuzaka will make his third start of the spring Thursday afternoon at Tampa Bay. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m.
The right-hander has given up eight runs — six earned — in five innings through his first two starts.
Alfredo Aceves and Andrew Miller are expected to come out of the bullpen for Boston.
The trip to Port Charlotte will allow Carl Crawford to meet up with his old teammates. Crawford spent nine years with the Rays before signing with the Red Sox this offseason.
