The Sox struck first against Tampa starter Alex Cobb in the top of the first inning as Jacoby Ellsbury snuck a seeing eye single in the hole at short to begin. Shane Victorino was plunked and Ellsbury scored when Ben Zobrist threw away a double play ball off the bat of Dustin Pedroia. David Ortiz walked but Mike Napoli popped up to left. Daniel Nava grounded back to a diving Cobb to end the inning but the Sox were up 1-0
Clay Buchholz got the start for the Sox and David Dejesus hit a 3-2 flare into left field for a base hit to start. Dejesus was erased on the force by Zobrist before Evan Longoria popped up to center. Wil Myers hit a broken bat grounder to second to end the inning.
Cobb settled down in the top of the second inning as Jarrod Saltalamacchia whiffed to begin before Stephen "PU" Drew popped up to left. Will Middlebrooks was out at first on a bang bang play to end the inning. Old friend James Loney began the bottom of the second with a double off the wall but was doubled off second on a Desmond Jennings liner to Napoli. Matt Joyce lined out to a sliding Nava in left to end the inning.
Ellsbury flied out to left to open the top of the third inning before Victorino swung at air for strike three. Pedroia swung at strike three in the dirt to end the inning. Buchholz got Yunel Escobar to ground out to third before Jose Molina waived at strike three. DeJesus looked at strike three to end the inning.
Ortiz led off the top of the fourth with a walk before Napoli went the other way with a base hit to right. Nava flied out to center but the hustling Ortiz moved to third to put runners at the corners. Saltalamacchia whiffed on a pitch in the dirt for strike three before Drew grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The bottom of the fourth began with Zobrist hitting one up the elevator shaft but it hit the catwalk and the ball was ruled foul. Zobrist ended up walking on a borderline 3-2 pitch but Buchholz recovered to freeze Longoria with an inside change. Myers whiffed after nearly hitting a bomb before Loney ripped a hit to right. Jennings walked to load the bases but Buchholz whiffed Joyce to end the 35 pitch inning. Good god that was brutal.
The Sox struck back in the the top of the fifth although Cobb blew away Middlebrooks to open. Ellsbury lined one off the glove of Loney and taking second on the hustle double before Victorino ate up Longoria with an infield single to put runners at the corners. A wild pitch by Cobb scored Ellsbury and a Pedroia grounder moved Shane to third. Ortiz lashed a single to left to score Victorino before Napoli grounded out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
The Rays roared back in the bottom of the fifth and Escobar beat out an infield single to short to begin. Molina flied out to center but Jennings doubled to right to put runners at second and third. Buchholz got a big out when Zobrist popped up to short but Longoria smashed a 3 run home run to left to tie up the game. Myers walked and Loney singled but Sox manager John Farrell suck with Buchholz to face Jennings. Clay rewarded Farrell's faith by getting Jennings to pop up to short to end the inning but the Rays had tied it 3-3.
Alex Torres replaced Cobb for the top of the sixth and struck out Nava to begin. Saltalamacchia grounded a seeing eye single to center but Escobar ran down a PU Drew pop up. Torres struck out Middlebrooks and celebrated after to end the inning. Buchholz returned for the bottom of the sixth and got Joyce to pop up to Middlebrooks in foul territory to begin. Escobar popped up to first and Molina popped up to third to end the inning. That was it for Buchholz after 6 solid innings giving up just the mistake to Longoria in his outing.
Joel Peralta took the mound in the top of the seventh and Zobrist made a great jumping catch to rob Ellsbury of a hit. Victorino flied out to left and Pedroia flied out to right to end the inning. Craig Breslow took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and Sean Rodriguez pinch hit for DeJesus but popped up to third to begin. Zobrist singled to chase Breslow as Junichi Tazawa came in to pitch, but uncorked a wild pitch to move Ben to second. Tazawa got Longoria to pop up to third and blew away Myers to end the inning.
Jake McGee came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Ortiz got a gift walk to begin the inning. For some reason Sox manager John Farrell decided to pinch run Ortiz with Quintin Berry, removing Ortiz' bat from the game. Berry took off for second and.....SAFE! Rays manager Joe Maddon sprinted out of the dugout throwing everything he could get his hands on to protest the call. The replays showed Berry was clearly out but there was nothing that could be done. Napoli grounded out to short and Jonny Gomes pinch hit for Nava. Maddon had Gomes intentionally walked to set up the double play but Saltalamacchia whiffed for the second out. PU Drew popped up 15 feet to the left to end the inning. That was a huge squander for the Sox as Ortiz bat was now sorely missed. Franklin Morales came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and walked Loney to start. Sam Fuld pinch ran for Loney and Jennings caught the Sox asleep with a bunt single to first. Joyce popped up a bunt to Saltalamacchia and that was it for Morales. Brandon Workman came in and the Rays got more luck when Pedroia and Drew ran into each other on an Escobar grounder, loading the bases. Delmon Young pinch hit for Molina and grounded a hard one to Napoli who couldn't get the ball out of his glove, deciding to step on first for the out but the go-ahead run scored. Rodriguez flied out to left but it was 4-3 Rays.
Somehow the Sox rallied in the top of the ninth against closer Fernando Rodney. Middlebrooks walked to start and Xander Bogaerts ran for him. Ellsbury hit a flare to left that dropped in no man's land for a single before Victorino grounded back to the mound, but both runners moved into scoring position. Pedroia grounded to short but Bogaerts scored to tie the game. Mike Carp pinch hit for Berry and Ellsbury swiped third to put the go-ahead run 90 feet away. Carp was rung up for strike three to end the inning but it was tied 4-4.
Koji Uehara was brought in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Zobrist grounded out to first on the first pitch. Longoria flied out and with Wil Myers out of the game due to dehydration, Jose Lobaton pinch hit for Fernando Rodney. Out of complete nowhere Lobaton crushed a solo home run to win the game for Tampa. Unbelievable.
Jackass of the Night is unfortunately Koji Uehara. How the hell do you give up a walkoff bomb to Jose freakin Lobaton?
The Good:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a stolen base.
Shane Victorino was 1 for 3 with an HBP and a run scored.
David Ortiz was 1 for 1 with 3 walks and an rbi.
Quintin Berry pinch ran for Ortiz and stole a base.
Jonny Gomes walked as a pinch hitter.
Xander Bogaerts scored a run as a pinch runner.
Craig Breslow retired one of the two men he faced.
Junichi Tazawa got both hitters he faced.
The Bad:
Mike Carp struck out as a pinch hitter.
Daniel Nava was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Stephen Drew was 0 for 4.
Franklin Morales gave up a run in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 5 but drove in a run.
Mike Napoli was just 1 for 4.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of three strikeouts.
Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 3 but walked.
Clay Buchholz was game by lasting 6 innings but allowed a 3 run bomb to Longoria to finish with a no-decison.
Brandon Workman allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in 2/3 of an inning.
Final Thoughts:
So much for a clean sweep. The Rays kept thier season alive and now the pressure is on the Sox to put them away. If the Sox can't win Game 4 you're looking at a Game 5 in Boston with Matt Moore on the mound looking for revenge, not a pleasant picture. Pretty much whoever wins Game 4 wins the series because I don't like the idea of the Sox choking away a 2-0 series lead. Tonight's game was a tough pill to swallow as Buchholz made one mistake and the Sox worked their asses off to tie the game in the ninth. Hopefully the Sox have better luck in Game 4. Jake Peavy goes for the Sox tomorrow night against Jeremy Hellickson at 8:30 PM at Tropicana Field.
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