Final, Rays 4-3: Well, there was a little Mike Aviles magic, but it was just a two-out single that didn't lead to much more than a whole bunch of noise.
Joey Gathright ran for Aviles and Marco Scutaro battled Joel Peralta for seven pitches as Fenway stood as one. Alas, it ends when Scutaro grounds one to Evan Longoria.
The margin in the wild card race is back to three and the Rays have to love their chances to get it to two with David Price going against Tim Wakefield on Sunday. We'll have reaction to this one on the site later on. Look for the live blog to come your way bright and early tomorrow.
Mid 9th, Rays 4-3: Despite a base hit and a balk, Franklin Morales is able to put a zero up for the Sox.
They will now send up Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Carl Crawford and Mike Aviles against Joel Peralta.
Can you sense some Aviles magic here?
End 8th, Rays 4-3: Fenway came to life for about four seconds as everyone watched the flight of David Ortiz's drive off Matt Moore with one out in the bottom of the eighth.
Then, there was a collective "%*&$#" as the ball settled nicely into the glove of the always-smooth B.J. Upton about 10 feet in front of the Red Sox bullpen.
Matt Moore got pinch hitter Conor Jackson to pop to short and we move on.
Franklin Morales will pitch the ninth for Boston. The question is who will do so for Tampa Bay. Closer Kyle Farnsworth has been banged up. We may see Joel Peralta instead.
Mid 8th, Rays 4-3: Red Sox pitchers have retired 10 straight since Evan Longoria's RBI single in the fifth.
Joe Maddon is sticking with Matt Moore to begin the bottom half of the eighth, which makes some sense given the fact that lefties Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz and Josh Reddick are due up.
Still, Moore has played with fire a bit so far. Does he get burned this inning?
End 7th, Rays 4-3: All things considered, that could've been worse for the Rays. Matt Moore got himself in trouble again, but gets a huge strikeout of Dustin Pedroia to keep his team in front.
Carl Crawford led off with a single. Mike Aviles followed with another, this time of the infield variety. A fielder's choice put runners at the corners for Jacoby Ellsbury, who brought in the run with a groundout.
Up stepped Pedroia with Marco Scutaro at third. Moore threw a fastball, a slider and a fastball (97 mph) and Pedroia was gone.
Daniel Bard has come in to replace Jon Lester.
Mid 7th, Rays 4-2: If that's it for Jon Lester, it ended on a great note. He finished his second straight 1-2-3 inning (third of the game) with two strikeouts in the seventh.
There is no action in the pen and it looks like Terry Francona has not gone down to the end of the dugout to give the handshake, so perhaps Lester starts the eighth at 107 pitches. I like it. (Update: Scott Atchison is now getting loose.)
By the way, there was a scoring change. They changed the error that allowed Jacoby Ellsbury to reach in the fifth to a single. That gives him 193 hits.
End 6th, Rays 4-2: That's a big moment in the maturation process of Matt Moore (alliteration, folks).
Facing the meat of the highest-scoring offense in baseball with a two-run lead in Fenway Park, he works around a pair of walks. Moore issued the passes to Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz before getting one out on a Josh Reddick grounder to second and then a third when Jarrod Saltalamacchia popped to second.
Jon Lester begins the seventh at 94 pitches (some sites say 95, but scoreboard has it at 94).
Mid 6th, Rays 4-2: I gots to speak da troof.
I didn't think Jon Lester would last seven innings in this one, but he has a great chance to do so after a six-pitch sixth that ends on a brilliant diving stop by Adrian Gonzalez.
Lester is at 95 pitches.
Speaking of starting pitchers lasting deep into games, Jeff Niemann could not. He is pulled after throwing 89 pitches in just five innings, replaced by top pitching prospect Matt Moore.
Not sure if there is anything wrong with Niemann. Maybe Joe Maddon wanted to save some bullets and see what a pretty rested pen can do. Either way, we get to see what Moore has. Based on what I've read, it's something else.
End 5th, Rays 4-2: The Red Sox could take two approaches when analyzing how the bottom of the fifth came to an end.
They could either get angry at Jacoby Ellsbury for breaking off second for third with two outs and Dustin Pedroia at the plate, leading to an easy caught stealing, Niemann to Longoria. Not quite sure what Ellsbury was doing, although he got such an amazing jump when he stole second that maybe he was almost too itchy.
Or, the Sox could just be happy that Ellsbury is not hurt after one of the more awkward slide/tumbles into third you will ever see. He isn't, and we move on, but you have to wonder about taking the bat out of Pedroia's hands there, especially down two.
Mid 5th, Rays 4-2: There were none of those troublesome walks for Jon Lester in the fifth, but more than enough hits for the Rays to add on. Three of them, in fact, all singles.
Brandon Guyer had the first to lead off the inning. B.J. Upton had the second two outs later. Evan Longoria had the big one, knocking an RBI hit to right to plate Guyer.
Josh Reddick, right after I laud him for his contributions, didn't come up with the ball cleanly, but it wouldn't have mattered. Guyer was going to score. No error.
End 4th, Rays 3-2: This is no knock on Ryan Kalish, but it's interesting to note how much love he received last year when he came up and played well as an injury replacement compared to that of Josh Reddick. Kalish was your right fielder of the future, no questions asked.
Well, Reddick has played as well, if not much better, and has done so for a long time now. It's not like he was just brought up two weeks ago.
Reddick has reached both times today, his average is back up to .290, he plays a pretty good right field, and he's doing a lot of the things that he didn't do when he was still figuring things out. Fewer bad swings, a few more long at-bats.
That's just a random thought after the Red Sox strand Reddick and Adrian Gonzalez in the fourth.
Mid 4th, Rays 3-2: Jon Lester ought to be taking the fellas out for a few cold ones (grandpa's cough syrup? Dumb and Dumber? anyone?) after this one. A one-run deficit could be more if not for some help behind him.
Lester started off the inning by walking Johnny Damon on five pitches. Damon was then caught stealing on a very close play at second base (the Red Sox have received almost every 50/50 call in this series). Credit Jarrod Saltalamacchia with a good throw, Marco Scutaro with a nice scoop and tag and second base umpire Bob Davidson with a hometown call.
Lester then walked the next man, issuing his fourth free pass of the game, but Adrian Gonzalez started a very pretty 3-6-1 double play to get the Sox out of the inning.
End 3rd, Rays 3-2: Mike Aviles told me last night he is loving the fact that he gets to play in this kind of an atmosphere after a few years in Kansas City.
He's certainly making the most of his opportunity as the de facto third baseman for this team.
Aviles, who homered last night, just missed another with an RBI double off the Green Monster that scored Carl Crawford from first. Barely.
Crawford, who did not get much help from on-deck hitter Marco Scutaro in the way of a slide signal, stumbled past the catcher and sort of awkwardly rolled over home plate, just avoiding the tag on the tail end of a really good relay by the Rays.
Scutaro made up for his nonchalance with a sacrifice bunt to move Aviles to third, and the second run came in when Jacoby Ellsbury hit a deep sacrifice fly to right.
Ellsbury has 95 RBIs.
Mid 3rd, Rays 3-0: Desmond Jennings will pull within three games of the Red Sox in the wild card race if this score holds up.
Jennings is now 4-for-5 with two walks in this series after ripping a one-out double in the third. He moved to third on a groundout and then scored when Jon Lester uncorked a wild pitch on a 3-2 count to Evan Longoria.
You have to have faith in your catcher to throw a breaking ball with a man on third, and Lester does. But Jarrod Saltalamacchia couldn't keep the curve in the dirt in front of him, and Jennings slid in head-first. He's quite a player and clearly enjoys playing the Sox.
End 2nd, Rays 2-0: Not that other teams don't pull off this kind of stuff, but nobody pulls it off as often or as fluidly as the Rays.
They position guys as well as any team in the league, and can make normally awkward plays like the 5-6-3 double play that ended the second look so easy.
With Josh Reddick on first (he walked) and one out, Tampa Bay shifted over to the right side of the infield, leaving third baseman Evan Longoria at shortstop. Salty hit a one-hopper directly at Longoria, who went to the shortstop covering at second for the first out of the twin killing.
Again, everyone does it to some degree. The Rays do it the best. They're the bestest at it.
One side note: Jeff Niemann is 3-4 with a 5.90 ERA when he pitches on four day's rest, like he is today. He is 7-3 with a 3.11 ERA when he has five or more days between starts. The Sox haven't got to him yet, but if those trends hold up they will.
Mid 2nd, Rays 2-0: As Jon Lester strides to the dugout with his first 1-2-3 inning behind him, we'll pass on word that the Yankees have won, in case you had not heard.
That gives them a four-game lead for the time being and cuts their magic number to nine.
Texas and Anaheim play later on.
End 1st, Rays 2-0: Then there's Jeff Niemann, who has allowed two runs in 18 innings against the Red Sox this year, and looked the part in the bottom of the first.
Niemann fanned both Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez. In between, Dustin Pedroia grounded one to Evan Longoria, who's been a vacuum this series.
Not literally. That would be weird, a team using a vacuum as its third baseman. Limited power, no speed.
Mid 1st, Rays 2-0: First innings are just killing the Sox this month, especially Jon Lester.
You might remember him having the 43-pitch first inning against the Yankees a few starts ago and then doing the same against the Rays his last time out.
There was Josh Beckett's two-run first last night, and now Lester has one of his own.
It started when Desmond Jennings walked on four pitches to lead things off. Two outs later, with Jennings now on third, Ben Zobrist lofted a home run into the first row of the Monster seats. It was about a 325-foot shot, but it counts, and Lester hurt himself by throwing four straight balls out of the chute.
Lester's first-inning ERA this year is 5.59. For the team it is 4.86.
4:12 p.m.: Jon Lester's first two pitches to Desmond Jennings are balls. So you can forget about the wild card.
3:59 p.m.: Just a couple of pregame links to pass on.
We have the update on Clay Buchholz, who took a big step forward today.
Also, the latest on Bobby Jenks has him adding back surgery to the list of health woes, but feeling fortunate that everything was found in time.
Just a few moments from first pitch as the shadows creep slowly across the infield.
2:23 p.m.: Some positives, negatives and uncertainty on the ever-shifting injury front.
Let's begin with Clay Buchholz, who threw 30 pitches in a bullpen session and felt just fine. We don't know yet what/when his next step will be as the team is going to be scrambling to get through Monday's doubleheader.
Buchholz thinks he needs two more bullpens or so. While there's a chance he could pitch in the regular season, he's treating the recovery with a specific target of helping out in the playoffs.
As for that Monday twinbill, we know John Lackey will start the nightcap but the day game remains up in the air. Some of it will have to do with how well Erik Bedard gets through the bullpen session he threw today.
Terry Francona: "I don't know. We’ve got some moving parts, obviously. Want to see how he comes through the side, and then we want to gauge where we think he is and then we'll make some decisions. Well have some either/ors, obviously."
Kevin Youkilis remains "really sore." They will keep staying away from him until he shows up one day feeling better, but don't expect it anytime soon. Jed Lowrie is doing "much better," so he'll share time with Mike Aviles going forward.
J.D. Drew still has not begun to hit. The neck soreness reported yesterday is not a major issue, but Drew just can't get to the point where he can pick up a bat. Tick. Tock.
We also heard from Bobby Jenks, whose last month or two has just been miserable from a physical perspective. He was hit with colitis, then doctors found a growth on two of his vertebrae that has caused a ligament to calcify and nerve damage to occur. Then there was the discovery of the pulmonary embolism, which was a scary discovery for Jenks.
He said he feels "blessed" to have discovered everything and get the best treatment with the physicians surrounding the team.
Look for more on all of these dudes on the site in the coming hour or so.
Here is the Tampa Bay lineup against Jon Lester:
Desmond Jennings, LF
B.J. Upton, CF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Ben Zobrist, 2B
Johnny Damon, DH
Sean Rodriguez, SS
Casey Kotchman, 1B
Brandon Guyer, RF
Jose Lobaton, C
12:40 p.m.: Greetings from Fenway Park, where Clay Buchholz is currently going through his bullpen session under the watchful eye of Curt Young and Mike Reinold.
From 490 feet away, he looks good.
Here is the lineup in support of another guy who has looked good, Sunday's start in Tampa Bay notwithstanding, Jon Lester:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Josh Reddick, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Carl Crawford, LF
Mike Aviles, 3B
Marco Scutaro, SS
8 a.m. ET: With their lead in the wild card race restored to four games, the Red Sox turn to their wins leader in Jon Lester on Saturday at Fenway Park against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Lester is 15-7 on the year and 10-5 in his career vs. the Rays, but suffered the loss six days ago at Tampa Bay, lasting just four innings in a 9-1 loss. Prior to that, Lester had gone five straight starts allowing one earned run or less.
In what nearly amounts to a must-win scenario for the Rays, they give the ball to Jeff Niemann. Boston missed Niemann during that three-game series in St. Petersburg last weekend, but they are quite familiar with his capabilities. Niemann is 1-0 with a 1.06 ERA in two starts against the Sox in 2011, giving up only five hits in 17 innings while striking out 20.
First pitch from Lester is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.
