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Papelbon Implodes, Rays Rally In Ninth Inning To Remain In First Place, 5-4
By Administrator | September 9, 2008
With first place only three outs away, the Red Sox turned to closer Jonathan Papelbon to finish off the Rays and send the Red Sox leap-frogging into first place; but the Red Sox closer, who was pitching for the third straight day, surrendered two runs in the top of the ninth inning to allow the Rays to escape Fenway Park with a shocking 5-4 win.
It was the Rays first win in Boston this season after having lost the previous eight games played in ‘the friendly confines’.
Jason Bay celebrated in the dugout with his teammates after homering in the eighth inning… but his heroics failed to result in a win as the Rays rallied off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning… AP photo
Leading 4-3 entering the ninth inning, thanks to the momentary heroics of LF Jason Bay, Papelbon fell behind the first batter he faced, pinch-hitter Dan Johnson, before finally working the count full. Pappy then threw a high fastball that tailed back over the middle of the plate… the left-hand hitting Johnson turned on the ball and ripped it into the second row of the bleachers to tie the game. Two batters later, the Red Sox closer left another fastball up and out over the plate for rookie outfielder Fernando Perez who drove a double off the top of the Green Monster in left-center field… catcher Dioner Navarro then slapped a double down the left field line to drive home the game-winning run.
It was a disappointing end to an otherwise thrilling game.
The Red Sox had trailed 3-2 as they came to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rays reliever Dan Wheeler retired the first two batters before walking Kevin Youkilis. Bay came to the plate and ripped a 1-1 pitch towards the left field wall… half way to first base, he could be seen yelling at the baseball.
“Get up!”.
A second later, the rising line drive came to rest in the first row of the Green Monster seats for a two-run home run — Red Sox-4, Rays-3. For a few minutes, Bay was the newest hero in Boston… but it wasn’t to be.
Daisuke Matsuzaka started the game for the Red Sox, and it is a fair assessment to describe his outing as ‘ineffective’. Facing a team that had not scored in two-plus games, Matsuzaka failed to rise to the occasion. He nibbled. He constantly falling behind in the count — throwing 102 pitches in five innings of work (only 61 strikes).
The line score was pretty ugly — 5 IP, 3 earned runs, 8 hits, 4 BB, 5 K.
He GAVE Tampa Bay its first two runs… in the third inning, after Akinori Iwamura led off with a bunt single, he walked Ben Zobrist (a .217 hitter) and Carlos Pena, hit Cliff Floyd with a pitch (to force in the first run) and surrendered a sac fly.
The Rays extended the lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning on an infield single and an rbi-double.
Dice-K could have left the game with a much larger deficit, but as has been his modus operandi for much of the season, he pitched best when he was in the biggest trouble. He repeatedly pitched out of jams to keep the game within reach. He stranded two baserunners in each inning from the second through the fifth, leaving a runner on third base in three of the four innings.
But the two GIFT runs in the third inning came back to haunt the Red Sox.
Tampa starting pitcher Scott Kazmir allowed two runs on five hits over six innings pitched.
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The Red Sox scored the game’s first run on an rbi-single by Kevin Youkilis in the first inning… after falling behind 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning, Mike Lowell homered in the bottom of the inning to pull the Sox to within a run.
The bullpens then pitched scoreless relief until Bay’s home run in the eighth inning.
The Red Sox got the tying run to third base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning… Mark Kotsay walked to start the inning but remained at first base with two outs. Enter Jacoby Ellsbury, who stole second base and advanced to third on Navarro’s throwing error… but that would be as far as he would get as Coco Crisp popped out to end the ball game.
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Bay has now homered in three straight games… he now has hit seven home runs since being acquired by the Red Sox (he had twenty-two homers with Pittsburgh prior to being traded).
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Tonight’s blown save was just the fifth blown save for Papelbon this season — his first since June 22nd!
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Johnson was originally in the Rays starting lineup but was scratched when he arrived at the ballpark just five minutes before the first pitch. He began the day in Triple-A but was delayed in his travels, and so he was available as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning.
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Tampa was 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position until Navarro’s game-winning double in the ninth inning.
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The Sox recalled RHP Bartolo Colon from his rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket.
Topics: Sox Games, Sox Players |
