Projo Sox Blog

The Red Sox could only defy the odds for so long. They had escaped jams in the eighth inning, ninth inning, and 10th inning, but every improbable streak comes to an end eventually.

In the 13th, the Tampa Bay Rays finally broke through, as Evan Longoria golfed a home run into the left field stands, sending the Red Sox home with a burned up bullpen and a disheartening 4-2 loss in the first contest of this two-game set.

Boston used all six men in their bullpen, and the last one, Takashi Saito, took the loss five hours after the game had started. With a man on third, Terry Francona opted to pitch to the dangerous Longoria, who has seven home runs in 11 games against Boston this year.

"At least with the open bases, we had some room to make some pitches. We back him into a bind? We have [switch-hitter Ben] Zobrist next -- if you want to go all the way to the bases loaded, you're looking at a guy who's thrown 40 pitches. I wish the ball hadn't have gone out, but I don't think that would have been the right thing to do," Francona explained.

Jason Varitek called for a breaking ball. Saito shook him off and threw a fastball. Longoria drove the ball far over the left field fence. It was Longoria's second home run of the night.

"We've seen him at his best. I know he's a great player. We seem to bring out a lot in him," Francona said.

The home run ended five innings of nail-biting baseball, where each team seemed primed to leap ahead but kept falling just short.

In the eighth, Daniel Bard kicked off the late-inning madness with a strange sequence.

Boston entered the bottom of the eighth inning leading 2-1 with Bard on the mound, but Evan Longoria led off the inning by smashing the first Bard pitch he saw over the centerfield wall to tie the game 2-2. Bard then walked Ben Zobrist, and Willy Aybar laid down a bunt, which Bard threw away into the Rays bullpen in the right-field corner.

The ball caromed around the bullpen, where it got stuck in an equipment bag. Aybar and Zobrist initially came in to score, but J.D. Drew pointed out the location of the ball, the umpiring crew huddled, and then called the runners back, allowing each to advance only one base. Instead of a 4-2 game, the score remained tied, with men on second and third. Bard then struck out B.J. Upton, and Manny Delcarmen got Boston out of the inning with a clutch strikeout and a groundout.

"That's a crazy game tonight. One of them ones that they pitched well early enough, we had a couple of runs. We needed to score more than that. We had some opportunities. You tip your cap," Drew said.

The chess-match bottom of the eighth featured three Tampa substitutions and two Boston pitchers, and a rare infield-in shift employed against Carlos Pena. The two teams were only getting started.

In the ninth, Delcarmen walked Jason Bartlett and retired Carl Crawford before leaving with one out. Ramon Ramirez entered the game, and Bartlett immediately stole second base behind him. Ramirez intentionally walked Evan Longoria to put men on first and second. He got a double play from Zobrist to send the game into extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, Josh Reddick doubled off the wall, and a few batters later, stood at third base with fellow Red Sox on first and second, and only one out. But Dustin Pedroia grounded into a double play to quash the Sox hopes of pulling ahead.

In the bottom of the 10th, Ramirez put his team in a nearly impossible situation. He loaded the bases with none out, and then improbably got himself out of danger with two easy pop-ups and a strikeout.

"Just one of those games where it looked like someone was going to capitalize on an opportunity. We were very fortunate to get to where we had got. Couple bases-loaded, no outs, [escapes]? That's unbelievable," third baseman Kevin Youkilis said.

In the top of the 11th, David Ortiz hit a line drive deep to left field that fell into Carl Crawford's glove just shy of the wall, but it wasn't quite deep enough. The teams spent the next few innings trading baserunners before Longoria finally ended it with his two-run home run.

"We were certainly walking on thin ice. We got ourselves into some binds and we worked ourselves out. It's an exciting game. I wish it would have ended differently," Francona said.

The late-inning drama overshadowed a brilliant pitchers duel that unfolded over the first six innings of the game. Jon Lester hammered away at Tampa batters with his power fastball and biting curve, issuing only two walks and giving up only three hits.

He left after hitting Carlos Pena with the first pitch of the seventh inning.

'I would have liked to have gone a little deeper in the game, but that's a testament to that team over there. They put up some good Abs, and battle, and foul some pitches off, and worked a lot of 3-2 counts," Lester said.

Boston needed every bit of sharpness Lester had, because Tampa ace Matt Garza was almost as good. Garza also gave up only three hits, but it was the distance, not the number, that counted. Two of the three Boston hits left the park, one off the bat of Kevin Youkilis, the other courtesy of Dustin Pedroia.

Boston sends Brad Penny to the mound Wednesday to face Rays lefty David Price, before Boston heads to New York Thursday to fight over first place with the rival Yankees.

 Tags  Boston Red Sox Dan Barbarisi Daniel Bard Jon Lester Ramon Ramirez

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