Final, Rays 9-6: Although the Red Sox lost by three runs, it felt like much more. They dug themselves a big hole early and never really mounted a serious threat late.
Kyle Farnsworth struck out one in a 1-2-3 ninth to wrap it up.
That hole was dug by Andrew Miller, who gave up seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. He has had a couple of solid starts, a pair of marginal ones and then this one, which was just horrific.
Miller will get a chance again in the finale of the road trip in Baltimore.
With Alfredo Aceves likely not available Saturday and the Rays feeling pretty good about themselves, some pressure falls on John Lackey, who will be on the mound opposite James Shields. It is a 4:10 p.m. start and we will be here to carry you through all the action.
End 8th, Rays 9-6: That’s about the third or fourth time that a scoreless half inning has taken about 20 minutes to complete. One of those nights.
The Red Sox have Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Yamaico Navarro and Marco Scutaro due up against Kyle Farnsworth.
Mid 8th, Rays 9-6: Kyle Farnsworth’s four-out save has become a three-out save after just three pitches.
Farnsworth gets J.D. Drew to pop to short, stranding a runner at first.
The Rays have the heart of their order up in the bottom half against Matt Albers.
10:15 p.m.: J.P. Howell strikes out David Ortiz for the second out of the eighth. That prompts Joe Maddon to turn to closer Kyle Farnsworth for a four-out save.
J.D. Drew is hitting for Darnell McDonald.
10:10 p.m.: As this game turns three hours old, we have another pitching change for Tampa Bay. It comes after Juan Cruz gives up an RBI single to Kevin Youkilis, pulling the Red Sox within three runs.
J.P. Howell will come on to face David Ortiz with one out.
Dustin Pedroia doubled and scored on the hit. Pedroia is 3-for-4 and 20-for-53 (.377) during a 12-game hitting streak.
End 7th, Rays 9-5: Adrian Gonzalez just embedded himself in blooper reels for eternity when he lost a foul pop in the white roof and had it land beside him as he stared up.
Given a second chance, Elliot Johnson ripped a double to left. That’s when Gonzalez made up for his dome-induced miscue by throwing out Johnson trying to advance to third on a grounder to first, and doing so easily.
Gonzalez makes that play, and maybe all other plays at first that involve him throwing, better than anyone I’ve seen at the position perhaps since Don Mattingly, who was the king of the 3-6-3 DP. You can’t just assume an advancement like that against Gonzalez.
The play helps Franklin Morales get through the seventh. Dustin Pedroia leads off the top of the eighth.
Mid 7th, Rays 9-5: Well, six outs with which to work and a four-run deficit. Time is running out but there’s still an opportunity for this Red Sox offense to make things interesting.
That is if Franklin Morales can do his job in the seventh. He jogs on to replace Dan Wheeler.
9:44 p.m.: The ball is jumping out of Tropicana Field tonight.
Marco Scutaro just cranked a two-run homer, the sixth of the game and the fourth by the Red Sox, to pull his team within 9-5.
That sends Joe Maddon to the mound for another pitching change.
End 6th, Rays 9-3: Casey Kotchman is just a few plate appearances shy of qualifying on the leaderboards. When he gets there, the Rays first baseman and former Red Sox will be pushing Adrian Gonzalez for the top batting average in the AL.
After a two-run shot off the foul pole in right, Kotchman’s average is up to .339, just 12 points behind Gonzalez.
That’s the kind of mark people had forecast for Kotchman back in his days as a can’t-miss prospect with the Angels. Seems as if it’s coming together for him in Tampa Bay, his fifth organization.
Amazingly, Kotchman is still just 28. Seems as if we’ve been hearing about him since the 90s.
Mid 6th, Rays 7-3: With just a few more runners on base ahead of these home runs, the Red Sox might be right in this thing.
As it is, they are down four after Dustin Pedroia hits the club’s third solo shot of the night. Pedroia has five home runs in his last seven games and is tied with Jacoby Ellsbury for fourth on the team with 12.
A lot of people failed to recognize that Pedroia was on pace for just under 30 home runs when he was hurt last year. There is tons of pop in that bat.
Dan Wheeler has taken over for Alfredo Aceves.
End 5th, Rays 7-2: Alfredo Aceves continues to do what he does — get outs in bunches out of the bullpen.
After surviving a pair of singles in the fifth, Aceves now has 8 1/3 scoreless innings out of the pen over his last three outings. He has allowed just those two hits in the fifth and only one walk in that entire span.
Dan Wheeler was up and warming in the Red Sox bullpen. In case you are wondering, Aceves is at 47 pitches. His high in a relief outing is 71.
David Price is back out for the sixth with some action in the Tampa Bay pen behind him.
Mid 5th, Rays 7-2: Still nothing more than the solo homers off David Price. With a rather sizable lead, he can do his thing.
However, Price is at 101 pitches, so we probably won’t see him beyond the sixth.
Carl Crawford went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI for Pawtucket tonight. His night is over.
End 4th, Rays 7-2: If you’re following along, that means you probably didn’t have any great plans for Friday night.
We just hope you don’t have anything lined up for Saturday, because this game will last well into tomorrow at this pace.
Even in a 1-2-3 inning, Alfredo Aceves needs 19 pitches. Nearly two hours in, we head to the fifth.
A reminder. The two teams have a quick turnaround with a 4 p.m. game Saturday. Maybe we will see some quicker at-bats if this one is out of reach in the later innings.
Mid 4th, Rays 7-2: The Red Sox do not score in the fourth, but they do get David Price to throw 28 pitches.
Twelve of them were thrown to Darnell McDonald before Price won the battle.
Price is up to 84 pitches.
End 3rd, Rays 7-2: This is the kind of game that can set a tone for the rest of the series.
Alfredo Aceves comes on to pick up where Andrew Miller left off and promptly walks Ben Zobrist with the bases loaded.
Aceves has to give the team several innings here. If he doesn’t have it, he’ll be left in there to take one for the team.
Zobrist has five RBIs in the last two innings.
The closing line on Miller: 2 2/3 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 0 K.
That is most definitely a non-quality start, and the Red Sox have to hope that their big guns return as soon as humanly possible.
8:21 p.m.: It has come to a merciful end for Andrew Miller. He didn’t fool anyone. He didn’t even come close to fooling anyone, and the experiment with the lefty has taken a turn for the worse.
Miller leaves after giving up two more singles and two more walks in the third. His free pass to Johnny Damon, the last hitter Miller faced, came on four pitches. That was the fifth walk of the night.
Only one run has come in so far in the inning, naturally on a Sam Fuld single. Fuld kills the Red Sox.
Alfredo Aceves will have to clean up a bases-loaded mess, otherwise Miller’s line will look even worse.
Mid 3rd, Rays 5-2: The Red Sox have outhomered the Rays 2-1 but still trail by three. That’s what happens when you swap solo shots with a grand slam.
Still, Jacoby Ellsbury pulls Boston a tad closer with his 12th of the season and third in the last six games.
David Price finished the frame by climbing the ladder on Adrian Gonzalez. That was Price’s fourth strikeout.
End 2nd, Rays 5-1: Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
You will see multiple references here and elsewhere to Andrew Miller’s slightly deceptive stat line through his first four starts with the Sox.
He is now facing more legit offenses after a run through the NL’s weakest, and beginning to pay. The Orioles had their chances to chase Miller early in his last start. It looks like the Rays may do so in this one.
After a single, a walk and a sacrifice bunt that resulted in a bases-loaded situation when Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s throw to second was too late, Miller surrendered a grand slam to Ben Zobrist.
Miller has walked seven men since his last strikeout at Houston two starts ago. That came against a pitcher.
Mid 2nd, 1-1: Red Sox fans were treating Darnell McDonald like he was public enemy No. 1 a couple of weeks ago. Not a lot of patience in this town.
But the Red Sox have had to exercise patience with McDonald, and it might be starting to pay off. Tonight’s right fielder is now 6-for-16 off David Price after hammering a solo shot to left in the second.
McDonald is 4-for-11 over his last four games and had that monster home run in Houston not too long ago.
End 1st, Rays 1-0: Many of you were focused on a little thing called the Stanley Cup Finals the last time Boston played at Tampa Bay, so you missed it when these two teams played some incredibly quick games.
In fact, the two fastest games of the season for the Red Sox came in the final two games of that series, a 2:24 game followed by a 2:20 game. It was remarkable.
After Andrew Miller throws 35 pitches in the bottom of the first, it’s clear we are dealing with a different beast.
Miller got the first out (on a diving catch by Marco Scutaro) before walking consecutive batters. He then got ahead of B.J. Upton 0-2 before Upton lined a single to center to score the game’s first run. Miller later had a long battle with Casey Kotchman before he grounded to second to end the inning.
Miller has walked six in six innings over his last two starts and is not showing much putaway stuff when he gets two strikes on a hitter. He has also had issues in the first inning his career, and now with the Red Sox. His career ERA in the first is at 7.43.
Mid 1st, 0-0: With the trade deadline approaching, the Red Sox are going to have to address the fact that they have just one hit since the All-Star break. On top of that, the one hit resulted in an out.
OK, so that’s sarcasm. Just wanted to make sure the break hadn’t wasted mine. Dustin Pedroia stayed hot with a single to left one out into the first, but he was an easy out trying to stretch it into a double.
The ball was blooped over third base. Left fielder Sam Fuld did a wonderful job of racing to the ball near the line, fielding, spinning and firing to second, where Pedroia could do nothing but walk into the tag. However, even if Fuld took his time he probably would’ve made the play.
7:10 p.m.: David Price throws a strike to Jacoby Ellsbury and the second half of the season is under way.
6:21 p.m.: We realize many of you may have pushed baseball far from your mind in the past few days.
So, in order to get everyone caught up to speed, here is a quick rundown of all things Red Sox:
- Boston has won six straight and 10 of 11. It owns the best record in the American League.
- Carl Crawford is playing tonight for Pawtucket as he rehabs his strained left hamstring. The plan is for him to go six innings in left field and then take a seat. He will also play Saturday for the PawSox. If all goes OK, Crawford will fly to Baltimore on Sunday and get activated for the opener against the Orioles on Monday.
- Josh Beckett, who left his last start early with a hyperextended left knee and then had some issues with it while warming in the bullpen at the All-Star Game, threw a side session Friday in Tampa and is still on track to start Sunday opposite Jeff Niemann.
- David Ortiz was suspended four games for his actions in the brawl with Baltimore the other day, but has appealed. It is not known yet when the appeal will be heard, but there is a chance that Ortiz could miss some of the rematch with the Orioles early next week. If not, he probably will sit however many games during the upcoming homestand against Seattle and Kansas City.
- Clay Buchholz has been throwing on flat ground. If that goes well we may see him get on a mound soon enough. It would appear as if Buchholz will need a rehab start or two before returning to the rotation, so the timetable on his comeback remains up in the air.
- As of Sunday, Jed Lowrie had yet to resume hitting as he works his way back from a left shoulder injury. Lowrie is in the process of strengthening the shoulder. Once the strength is even on both sides, he will hit. He has taken part in all other baseball activities.
- The rotation after Andrew Miller goes tonight looks like this: John Lackey (Sat. vs. Rays), Beckett (Sun. vs. Rays), Tim Wakefield (Mon. at Orioles), Kyle Weiland (Tues. at Orioles), Miller (Wed. at Orioles)
- Jon Lester is eligible to come off the disabled list to start the opener of the homestand July 22. There is no immediate word on whether he will be able to do so, but the club is hopeful after Lester threw from 90 feet Friday.
5:20 p.m.: This was merely a case of stating the obvious in pointing out the importance of these games. It also goes without saying that Tropicana Field has been a difficult place to play for the Red Sox.
That doesn’t mean we are not going to elaborate.
Boston is 10-20 at The Trop over the last four seasons, which does not include the 2008 ALCS loss that ended in dramatic fashion in St. Pete.
And if you feel as if so many of the games have had a playoff feel, you’re right. Pitching and close games have dominated this series in recent seasons. Of the 30 games in that stretch, 21 have been decided by three runs or less. An amazing 17 of those 30 games have been decided by two runs or less. There have been eight one-run games.
The first trip to Tampa saw both James Shields and Josh Beckett throw complete game shutouts. Boston got a rare series win by taking two of three in that set.
Cliches always suggest that it boils down to your pitching and defense. That’s never more the case than when the Red Sox travel to Tampa.
3:47 p.m.: Word out of Tampa Bay is that Josh Beckett will indeed start Sunday. He threw a side session at The Trop and his left knee came out of it feeling fine.
That sets the pitching matchups in stone. On paper, the Beckett outing is the only one in which the Red Sox have the edge. However, with his knee a possible issue and with his counterpart Jeff Niemann posting some very solid efforts in three of his last four starts, the Sunday matchup might be evened out a bit.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Andrew Miller, whose 1.59 WHIP makes some wonder if a rough start is just a matter of time, has a chance to set the tone. Here is the lineup that Miller will face, followed by a few numbers.
Johnny Damon, DH
Ben Zobrist, RF
Evan Longoria, 3B
B.J. Upton, CF
Sean Rodriguez, 2B
Casey Kotchman, 1B
Kelly Shoppach, C
Elliot Johnson, SS
Sam Fuld, LF
Miller has limited experience against this order. The group is a combined 6-for-15 (.400) with a home run and a double vs. the lefty.
3:02 p.m.: The Red Sox are no stranger to lefty David Price and have planned accordingly, stuffing the lineup with six right-handed bats (including switch hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia).
Here is a look at the first lineup of the second half of the season:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Darnell McDonald, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Yamaico Navarro, LF
Marco Scutaro, SS
8 a.m.: In first place and sporting the best record in the American League East, the Red Sox get back to action Friday night with the opener of a big series in Tampa Bay.
Boston hit the All-Star break at 55-35, the fourth time in the last six seasons that the club has had a winning percentage of .600 or better at the intermission. No other team in baseball has done that twice in that span.
The Red Sox turn to Andrew Miller to begin the second half. Miller is 3-0 with a 3.57 ERA in his four starts with the club, providing a solid boost for a rotation beleaguered by injuries. The club hopes to get Clay Buchholz up and throwing at some point during the series. Josh Beckett is still on target to start Sunday, as long as a side session Friday goes OK.
The Rays enter the second half trailing the first-place Sox by six games. They give the ball to ace David Price, who is 4-3 with a 3.43 ERA in seven career starts against Boston.
First pitch from Price is expected around 7:10 p.m.
