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Sox Come Out On Short End Of Pitcher’s Duel In Tampa, Rays Re-Take First Place With 2-1 Win
By Administrator | September 17, 2008
The Red Sox wasted another outstanding pitching performance by one of its starting pitchers last night, as Josh Beckett pitched eight innings of one run baseball but left the game with the score knotted at one. Justin Masterson surrendered a run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays prevailed 2-1 to jump back into first place by one game over the Sox.
One day after dispatching the Rays best pitcher, Scott Kazmir, with an awesome display of power, the Sox were unable to do anything with the Rays #5 pitcher, Andy Sonnanstine – who, as recently as yesterday afternoon, was in jeopardy of being removed from the Tampa Bay rotation in favor of blue chip prospect David Price.
With the loss, Boston is now 1-7 at Tropicana Field this season… more disturbingly, they are 0-6 against the Rays in one-run games.
Regardless of the outcome, last night’s game was a great pitchers duel. Beckett limited the Rays to three hits in eight innings of work, two singles and Carlos Pena’s 29th home run (in the seventh inning). Sonnanstine held the Red Sox to three hits and an unearned run (on Kevin Youkilis’ sixth inning sacrifice fly).
The Tampa bullpen then added three innings of two-hit, scoreless baseball.
Masterson started the ninth inning by jamming Jason Bartlett with a fastball… the Tampa shortstop fought off the pitch and blooped a single down the right field line. The rookie then walked Carlos Pena (after losing a strike during the at-bat when a baseball got loose in the Boston bullpen and squirted into the infield). The nightmare inning got even worse when, with one out and ahead in the count, he hit Cliff Floyd with a pitch. Tampa catcher Dioner Navarro then was credited with the game-winning single when he hit a fly ball over the drawn-in outfield.
It was the second time in a week that Navarro got a game-winning hit against the Red Sox (he hit a ninth-inning game-winning double off Jonathan Papelbon last Tuesday in Boston).
The Sox had taken a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning on Jacoby Ellsbury’s infield single, an error by third baseman Evan Longoria, and Youkilis’ sac fly. The Rays tied it an inning later when Beckett hung a curve ball, albeit off the plate, and Pena lofted it just over the short left field wall at The Trop.
After the game, Beckett said: “It’s amazing how one pitch can change the complexion of the game. I don’t think he hit that ball that good. Ninety-eight percent of the guys in the big leagues will fly out to left field on that. But he’s strong and you can’t leave a pitch up to him like that”.
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Beckett retired the first thirteen batters in the game before Cliff Floyd singled to right with one out in the fifth.
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Mike Lowell aggravated his injured right hip making a play at third base and had to leave the game in the ninth inning. His status will be evaluated today.
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Jason Bay left the team to be with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s second child last evening.
Topics: Sox Games, Sox Players |
