Crawford got the ball in the top of the first inning and Randy Winn grounded out to first to begin. Steve Cox grounded back to the mound and Greg Vaughn took strike three to end the inning. Travis Harper got the start for the Rays and Darren Lewis began the bottom of the first by grounding out to third. Jose Offerman grounded out to first but Carl Everett doubled off the Monster. Rays catcher John Flaherty airmailed a pickoff throw and Carl moved to second on the error but Manny Ramirez struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Rays struck first in the top of the second although Fred McGriff grounded out to second to start. Ben Grieve and Vinny Castilla stroked back to back base hits but Bob Smith took strike three. Old friend John Flaherty singled home Grieve to give the Rays the lead. Felix Martinez grounded out to first to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0.
The Sox wasted no time striking back in the bottom of the second as Scott Hatteberg doubled to right to start the inning and Trot Nixon pulverized his second home run of the year to give the Sox the lead. Shea Hillenbrand popped up to second but Brian Daubach got a base hit to right. Mike Lansing banged into a double play to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 2-1.
The Rays struck back in the top of the third although Winn flied out to right to start. Cox then hit a home run all the way to Argentina to tie up the game. Vaughn took strike three but McGriff drew a walk. Grieve grounded out to short to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the third although Lewis grounded out to third to start. Offerman popped up to short but Everett got a base hit to center and moved to third on the base hit to right by Ramirez. Hatteberg grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Crawford settled down in the top of the fourth as Castilla went down hacking to start. Smith grounded out to short and Flaherty flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox took command in the bottom of the fourth although Nixon flied out to center to start. Hillenbrand bludgeoned his first career home run to give the Sox the lead. Daubach doubled to left but was thrown out at third trying to advance on a bad pitch. Lansing grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-2.
Crawford cruised in the top of the fifth as Martinez went down hacking to start. Winn grounded out to short and Cox went down swinging to end the inning. The Sox tacked it on in the bottom of the fifth as Lewis and Offerman stroked back to back singles to begin. Everett banged into a double play but Ramirez dumped a base hit to left to score Lewis. Hatteberg flied out to left to end the inning but it was 4-2 Sox.
Vaughn took strike three to start the top of the sixth and McGriff popped up to third. Grieve grounded out to third to end the inning. Ken Hill came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Nixon grounded out to second to start. Hillenbrand popped up to second and Daubach was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning.
Crawford came back for one more inning in the top of the seventh and Castilla grounded out to short to start. Smith and Flaherty both struck out swinging to end the inning. Crawford retired 13 in a row after walking McGriff in the third and threw 7 innings of 2 run ball. He struck out 9 on 101 pitches.
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the seventh as Lansing singled to center to begin. Lewis dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Mike to second and Lansing moved to third on the grounder by Offerman. Everett doubled off the Monster to score Lansing and Ramirez was intentionally walked. Hatteberg made the Rays pay by doubling off the Monster to score Everett. Nixon was intentionally walked but Hillenbrand popped up back to Hill to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-2.
Rod Beck came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth with Craig Grebeck now at short. Russ Johnson pinch hit for Martinez and watched strike three go by to start. Winn whiffed and Cox grounded out to second to end the inning. Worcester native Tanyon Sturtze came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Daubach took first on a wild pitch strike three to start. Grebeck flied out to left but Lewis walked. Johnson dropped a line drive off the bat of Offerman for an error to load the bases but Everett forced Daubach at home on a grounder. Ramirez whiffed to end the inning.
Beck returned for the top of the ninth and Vaughn walked to start. Vaughn moved to second on the ground out by McGriff and Grieve grounded out to short. Castilla whiffed to end the game, the Sox had won it 6-2.
The Good:
Darren Lewis was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Carl Everett was 3 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Manny Ramirez was 2 for 4 with a walk and an rbi.
Scott Hatteberg was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Trot Nixon was 1 for 3 with a walk and a 2 run homer.
Brian Daubach was 2 for 4.
Mike Lansing was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Rod Beck tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Craig Grebeck was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 5.
Shea Hillenbrand was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was his first home run.
Final Thoughts:
THAT'S what the Sox need out of Crawford this season. After Pedro Martinez, the Red Sox rotation is a big crap shoot including David Cone and Bret Saberhagen whenever those two return. Crawford and Tomo Ohka showed some promise down the stretch last season but someone has to step up this season. That was a good season debut by Crawford and he kept the Rays swinging and missing the whole game. The offense was a nice balanced attack and everyone except Grebeck joined in on the fun. Kudos to Hillenbrand for hitting his first career home run and really nothing went wrong all game. Beck looked good in his 2 innings of work so there's not much to complain about. Even when Crawford was on the ropes a little, he retired 13 in a row to end his day. Hopefully the Sox can get many more outings like this from Paxton and from the offense. The Sox look to sweep the Rays out of Fenway tomorrow afternoon when they send their ace Pedro Martinez to the mound against Albie Lopez of the Rays. The game begins at 1:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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