August 22, 2007 Boston Red Sox v. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
..We’re here in St. Petersburg, Florida for the third and final game of the series for the Red Sox and Devil Rays. Opening lineups forthcoming…
Code:
CF Coco Crisp SS BJ Upton
2B Dustin Pedroia CF Rocco Baldelli
RF JD Drew LF Carl Crawford
LF Manny Ramirez 3B Evan Longoria
1B Kevin Youkilis DH Jonny Gomes
C Jason Varitek 2B Akinori Iwamura
DH Jarrod Salt. RF Elijah Dukes
3B Mike Lowell C Dioner Navarro
SS Julio Lugo 1B Wes Bankston
SP Curt Schilling SP Scott Kazmir
..One surprise from Terry Francona. He sticks with the hot bat in Jarrod Saltalamacchia against Scott Kazmir, keeping lefty Cliff Floyd on the bench…...In his only outing versus the Red Sox this season, Kazmir last only 2.1 innings back on Jul 3 in Boston. The Devil Rays lost that game 10-3…
23,652 in the stands tonight and first pitch is scheduled for 7;10p…
Crisp opens it with a bang
Coco Crisp, back atop the lineup tonight launched a 2-2 fastball from Kazmir 447 feet from home plate to deep center field for an early 1-0 lead for Boston...Dustin Pedroia followed with a four pitch walk, but the 3-4-5 hitters failed to get the ball out of the infield…
Tampa leads off second with hit
...after an easy one-two-three first, Schilling was slow reacting to a roller up the line by Longoria which resulted in an infield single for the speed-challenged slugger...Gomes with a deep fly out...one away..slow roller to Lugo for a force at second, no throw to first for Iwamura...Dukes flails at a fastball away...three down, no runs…
Pedroia thrown out at second to start third
...A missed run-and-hit sign has put the Sox in a bad position, Dustin Pedroia was gunned down by a mile at second by Navarro as Drew never took the bat off his shoulder. Navarro is 36/106 on the season in throwing runners out...An easy stand up double for JD...The Rays are intentionally walking Manny to face the cold Kevin Youkils. Youk is batting just .127 in 18 games this August...A weak flyout to shallow left doesnt move the runners along...Varitek is retired on three strikes to kill the threat…
Drew robs Crawford at the wall
..After surrendering back-to-back singles to BJ Upton and Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford sent Schilling’s first pitch of the at-bat for a ride to the gap in deep right field. A perfectly timed leap by JD Drew robbed Crawford of a game-turning homerun. Drew got on his horse and scaled the wall to save Schilling. Sox still ahead 1-0…
Iwamura puts Devil Rays ahead in 4th
..Living on the edge almost cost Schilling against Crawford and it came back to bite him against Iwamura. With Gomes on first, Schilling grooved a first pitch fastball down the heart of the plate and the light-hitting middle infield said thank you and deposited it 438 feet from home plate for a souvenir...
Infield single gets Sox going in 5th
...Sox looking to get the lead back, lead things off with an infield single by Crisp.,,Pedroia at bat, looking to move Crsip along to second...Deep in the hole to second, Iwamura with the grab, to Gomes...out...Crisp to second...Drew walks, Manny to bat, first and second one down….Weak pop out to left-center, two down, runners don’t move up...Youkilis takes five pitch walk, bases loaded for Varitek...Called third strike by the home plate umpire has Varitek upset, but he heads back to the dugout. Kamir out of a jam, still 2-1 Tampa.
Salty stays hot
Salty has led off the sixth inning with a stand-up double, his sixth straight hit. He has raised his batting average from .226 to .268 at this point between yesterday and today...Mike Lowell due up next against Kazmir… A sharp drive down to third...past Longoria into left...Saltalamacchia held at third...Lugo up next. He’s hitting .298 with RISP...Short flyball to left doesn’t move anyone up...Crisp next...Linedrive single to left...It drops in front of Crawford, Saltalamacchia comes in to score, Lowell takes second. It’s tied up, Crisp with his second RBI of the night...2-2...Still one out..Kazmir settled down and retired Pedroia and Drew on strikes. Sox tie the score thanks to Crisp.
Kazmir done for the night
Manager Joe Maddon has called upon Edwin Jackson to start the seventh, ending Scott Kazmir’s night. He went 6 innings, allowing two runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out five. Kazmir will not factor into the decision tonight…
Schilling sharp through 7
...Curt Schilling has just sent down Rocco Baldelli to end the seventh inning. The trio of Devil Ray hitters didn’t get the ball out of the infield as Schilling is still topping out at 94mph on his fastball...Francona doesn’t have anyone warming up in the bullpen yet…
Lugo on second, Sox threatening against Jackson
...A one-out double by Julio Lugo has the go-ahead run on second with Coco Crisp at the plate...Looks like Francona is going to get the bullpen going quickly, both Meredith and Okajima just started loosening up...Crisp to Iwamura, Lugo advances to third on the ground out...Pedroia rips a liner into the corner, Dukes is over and it gets past him. Lugo in easily, Pedroia pulls into second with an RBI double...Drew pops out to Bankston at first, Sox ahead 3-2…
Schilling done, Okajima in
Curt Schilling is done for the night, in line for the win. Francona has called upon Hideki Ohajima to face lefty Carl Crawford...Lefties are hitting .230 against Okajima this season...Crawford puts a drive into a 1-1 fastball...Drew backing up, he snags it on the track…
Meredith is coming in to face Longoria...Longoria checks his swing...ball four...he takes his base...Gomes up next… Groundball to Lugo...6 to 4 to 3..perfect execution...Meredith is pumped coming off the mound…
Papelbon entering the game for Sox
Jonathan Papelbon has been called into the game to save the win for Curt Schilling...First up, Akinori Iawamura. He’s one for two with a two-run homerun in the 4th...It’s a lead off base on balls for Iwamura...A hard grounder into the hole between second and third...Lugo has it but he doesn’t risk the throw to first...Dioner Navarro bunts it down the first baseline...Papelbon fields it, let’s it fly...safe! Navarro barely made it...Bases loaded...Blankston due up next…
Bankston delivers
Tampa Bay has tied the game up on a RBI single to center by Wes Bankston...Papelbon is struggling, bases still loaded, no outs...BJ Upton up next...Swung on...weak grounder to first...Youkilis fields it...no chance to get Dukes from third...Tampa Bay wins it...4-3.
W: Jackson (2-2)L: Papelbon (1-3)
Around the League:
The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded 26 year-old catcher Ronny Paulino and 22 year-o;d minor league third baseman Nick Petty to Milwaukee for the services of 26 year-old reliever Jose Capellan and 20 year-old minor league starting pitcher Charles Hill...Chi-Hung Cheng of the Toronto Blue Jays blanked the Oakland Athletics 9-0 on 4 hits and posted 6 strikeouts and 1 walk...Josh Hamilton was removed from the game against the Atlanta Braves as a precaution after being hit by a pitch. The Reds had their worse fears confirmed when it turned out to be more serious. The center fielder will miss at least 5 days with a fractured finger….Indians starting pitcher Fausto Carmona will be sitting out a few days after he was injured against the Detroit Tigers. He sustained a tender shoulder and will be listed day-to-day for about 1-2 weeks...Seattle signed MR Chris Reitsma to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $420k...