July 2, 2004
Drew power Sox past Rays, Yanks on Deck.
Boston 9, Tampa Bay 3
J.D. Drew's first season with the Red Sox did not have the success that the Boston management team had hoped for when they signed the veteran right-fielder to a four-year contract in the offseason. His second season, has shown to be any better. In 82 games, Drew is hitting a weak .256 with 8 home runs. His 36 runs batted in tie him for eight amongst the nine regulars Boston has used for most of the season.
The one bright spot for Drew has been his play against the Tampa Bay Rays. For whatever reason, the veteran has performed well (.324 avg./.477 obp/.588 slg.) against his division foes. In fact, Drew has hit the Yankees well too, posting a .444/.522/.778 numbers in 5 games. Last night, Drew put his hitting skills on display against, giving Red Sox fans glimpses of what Theo Epstein and the rest of the organization had hoped for when they brought Drew on board as a replacement for fan favorite Trot Nixon.
Drew put the Sox on the board first in the top of the second with a RBI single off Tampa Bay lefty J.P. Howell. With Mike Lowell on third, Drew scorched a 1-2 pitch past Carlos Pena at first to score the first run of the game. The Rays would come back and tie the game in the bottom of the inning when old friend Eric Hinske led off the inning with a single to left before advancing home a few batters later on a single by Raul Casanova.
After the Casanova RBI, Boston starter Josh Beckett settled down to hold the Rays in check, allowing just one runner to reach scoring position before exiting in the midway through the eighth with a 9-1 lead. the win by Beckett marked the second consecutive strong effort by forward by the Red Sox starter, after defeating the Houston Astros his last time out.
Boston pushed the lead to 3-1 before Drew struck again in the 6th. With Howell tiring on the mound, Drew came up with runners on first and second and no outs. Howell's first offering to Drew ended up 373 feet away in the Monster Seats to the joy of many fans in attendance.
The Sox would later added another three runs off the Rays bullpen to put the game out of reach of Tampa Bay. With runners on first and second, Coco Crisp, playing with a sore hand after injuring himself in the first game of the series diving for a ball, singled through a drawn-in infield to score drew from second. Kevin Youkilis followed Crisp with a single to deep center that scored Jason Varitek and Crisp to push the Sox lead to eight runs.
Bryan Corey pitched the final inning and a third for Boston, surrendering two runs in the ninth before shutting the door on the series win for the Red Sox.
W: Beckett (7-4) L: Howell (2-2)
Player of the Game: J.D. Drew (2-4, BB, HR, 2 Rs, 4 RBIs)
Around the League:
...Seattle catcher Jeff Clement (.265, 2, 11) went 5-6 against the Toronto Blue Jays...New York 2B Robinson Cano (.333, 11 58) went 5-5 against Texas in a 12-3 victory...Florida signed manager Yugoro Yama****a (24-26 w/ Surpass, NPBNiG) to a 5-year contract...The Guangdong Leopards defeated the Sichuan Dragons to win the CBL China Series 3-1...