The Sox pounced on Rays starter Paul Wilson immediately in the top of the first inning as Darren Lewis singled to left to start. Jose Offerman walked and Carl Everett was plunked to load the bases with nobody out. Manny Ramirez lashed a base hit to center to score Lewis and Offerman but Troy O'Leary struck out looking. Jason Varitek beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners but Felix Martinez threw a grounder by Shea Hillenbrand away to score Ramirez with another run. Brian Daubach flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
The Rays fought back against Pedro in the bottom of the first as Shea Hillenbrand booted a grounder by Gerald Williams to start. Russ Johnson singled to right to move Williams to third and Gerald scored when Greg Vaughn beat out a double play ball. Fred McGriff doubled home Vaughn to cut the lead and Ben Grieve singled Fred to third. Jose Guillen struck out swinging and Vinny Castilla grounded into a force to end the inning with the Rays down 3-2.
Craig Grebeck flied out to right to start the top of the second before Lewis flied out to center. Offerman also flied out to left to end the inning. John Flaherty struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Felix Martinez also went down swinging. Williams grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third although Everett flied out to left to start. Ramirez and O'Leary drew back to back walks before Varitek doubled home Ramirez. Hillenbrand iced the game with a double to left to clear the bases. Daubach popped up to short and Grebeck flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-2.
Martinez cruised in the bottom of the third as Johnson took strike three to start. Vaughn whiffed and McGriff took strike three to end the inning.
Dan Wheeler came in to pitch the top of the fourth and Lewis whiffed to start. Offerman flied out to center but Everett singled to left. Ramirez took strike three to end the inning. Pedro caught Grieve looking to start the bottom of the fifth before Guillen singled to right. Castilla struck out swinging and Flaherty took strike three to end the inning.
O'Leary lined out to first to start the top of the fifth and Varitek singled to left. Jason was doubled off first on a bullet hit by Hillenbrand to Wheeler to end the inning. Martinez whiffed to start the bottom of the fifth and Williams grounded out to short. Johnson singled to left and Vaughn doubled to left. Johnson tried for home and the throw came in....YER OUTTA THERE! Johnson was out and the inning was over.
Travis Phelps came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Daubach grounded out to first to start. Grebeck grounded out to third and Lewis flied out to left to end the inning. McGriff struck out swinging to start the bottom of the sixth and Grieve took strike three. Guillen singled to center but Castilla whiffed to end the inning.
Offerman grounded out to second to start the top of the seventh but Everett was plunked again. A passed ball moved Carl to second but Ramirez flied out to center. O'Leary also flied out to center to end the inning. Pedro came back for the bottom of the seventh but was chased quickly as Flaherty doubled and Martinez singled him home. Pedro was finished after 6 innings and 2 earned runs. Derek Lowe came in and Williams was plunked, but Johnson popped up to left. Vaughn forced Martinez at third and McGriff grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Rays down 6-3.
Doug Creek came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Varitek whiffed to start. Hillenbrand singled to left and Daubach smashed a 2 run bomb to wrap up the scoring. Grebeck grounded out to first and Lewis flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-3.
Lowe returned for the bottom of the eighth and Grieve popped up to left to start. Guillen grounded back to the mound and Castilla struck out swinging to end the inning.
Esteban Yan came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Offerman grounded out to short to start. Everett grounded out to third and Manny lined out to right to end the inning. Lowe came back to close out the bottom of the ninth and Flaherty grounded out to third to start. Martinez singled to right but Williams struck out swinging. Johnson flied out to right to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-3 for their 5th straight win.
Hero Hillenbrand
Hero of the Night is Shea Hillenbrand. The rookie drove in 2 big runs that ended up putting the game out of reach for the Rays.
The Good:
Carl Everett was 1 for 3 with 2 hit by pitches and a run scored.
Jason Varitek was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Pedro Martinez tossed 6 solid innings where he allowed 3 runs (2 earned) while striking out 13.
Derek Lowe earned his second save with 3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Craig Grebeck was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Darren Lewis was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Jose Offerman was 0 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Manny Ramirez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked, drove in 2 runs and scored a run.
Troy O'Leary was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Brian Daubach was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a 2 run home run.
Final Thoughts:
Kind of funny how Pedro performed the worst out of him, Paxton Crawford and Tomo Ohka but a win is a win. Pedro didn't dominate as he had in the past but he definitely did enough to win with 13 strikeouts. The bats continue to stay hot and the addition of Manny is opening up Everett and Daubach to see more pitches they usually wouldn't. Daubach has been a wrecking machine this month and hopefully he can keep this up for a full season. The Rays are no competition but beating them still has to be done. The Sox can only play them and the Baltimore Orioles so many times so they have to take advantage. The Sox now travel to the Bronx in a rematch with the New York Yankees. Hideo Nomo (2-0) goes up against Andy Pettite tomorrow night at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.,
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