Six Run Eighth Downs Rays (6/20/01)

Better late than never for the Boston Red Sox. The Sox won their third game in a row and second straight against the Tampa Bay Rays with a little late magic. The Sox broke out to a 2-0 lead on Ryan Rupe and Tampa with rbis from Dante Bichette and Jose Offerman. Fred McGriff hit a 2 run home run off David Cone in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game. The Sox then exploded in the top of the eighth for six runs with a three run home run by Bichette being the big one. Scott Hatteberg drove in Brian Daubach to cap the rally as the Boston bullpen led by Rich Garces (2-0, 2.60 ERA) locked it down. Sun-Woo Kim slammed the door in the ninth inning and the Sox won third third straight game 8-2 at Tropicana Field.

                                                       Silvia Saint approves of the win

Rupe got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jose Offerman led off by flying out to center. Trot Nixon popped up to short and Carl Everett struck out swinging to end the inning. Cone got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Jason Tyner got a base hit to right to start. Tyner was thrown out at second trying to steal and Randy Wynn grounded out to first. Greg Vaughn struck out swinging to end the inning.

                                                          YERRRRR OUT!

Manny Ramirez took strike three to start the top of the second but Dante Bichette got a base hit to right. Brian Daubach flied out to left and Chris Stynes struck out swinging to end the inning. Fred McGriff flied out to center to start the bottom of the second but Ben Grieve singled to right. Aubrey Huff forced Grieve at second and Mike Difelice grounded out to short to end the inning.

Mike Lansing flied out to left to start the top of the third and Doug Mirabelli grounded out to second. Offerman flied out to left to end the inning. Old pal Andy Sheets flied out to right and Damian Rolls flied out to center. Tyner also flied out to center to end the inning.

The Sox struck first in the top of the fourth as Nixon walked to start. A wild pitch moved him to second but both Everett and Ramirez struck out swinging. Bichette dumped a base hit to left to score Nixon to put Boston on top. Daubach flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.

                                                     Sox strike first

The Rays threatened in the bottom of the fourth as Wynn grounded out to short to start. Vaughn struck out swinging but McGriff walked. Grieve got a base hit to center and Huff walked to load the bases, but Difelice popped up to first to end the inning.

The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth as Stynes struck out swinging to start. Lansing walked and Mirabelli was hit with a pitch and Offerman hit a double to right. Lansing scored but Mirabelli was thrown out at home on the play. Nixon flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.

                                                             You're outta there!

Sheets struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth and Rolls flied out to center. Tyner grounded out to first to end the inning.

Everett struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth and Ramirez took strike three. Bichette flied out to left to end the inning. The Rays struck back in the bottom of the sixth as Wynn struck out swinging to start. Vaughn got a base hit to left and McGriff hit a home run all the way to the Monte Casino Abbey to tie the game. Grieve got a base hit to left and that was it for Cone. He ran out of gas but allowed 2 runs in 5 2/3 innings off 6 hits and 2 walks. Rich Garces came in and Huff was frozen for strike three. Difelice flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.

                                                       Cone watches it go

Daubach flied out to left to start the top of the seventh and Stynes grounded out to short. Lansing also grounded out to short to end the inning. Sheets flied out to right to start the bottom of the seventh and Rolls grounded out to second. Tyner singled to center and promptly stole second. Wynn flied out to center to end the inning.

The Sox exploded in the top of the eighth as Scott Hatteberg pinch hit for Mirabelli and walked. Offerman singled in the hole at second to chase Rupe and move Hatteberg to third. Travis Phelps came in to pitch and Nixon hit a sac fly to center to score Hatteberg. Everett walked and Ramirez got a base hit to left to score Everett. Bichette then blasted his fifth home run of the year to ice the game. Daubach singled to right to chase Phelps. Rusty Meacham came in to pitch and Stynes singled to center. Lansing flied out to right but Hatteberg doubled to right. Daubach scored easily but Stynes slid at home.....OUT! The inning was over but the Sox now led 8-2

                                                           YERRRRR OUT!

Rod Beck came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Vaughn flied out to left to start. McGriff flied out to right and Greieve grounded out to second to end the inning.

Jeff Wallace came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Offerman walked to start. Nixon flied out to right, Everett flied out to left and Ramirez popped up to first to end the inning. Sun-Woo Kim came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Huff popped up to short to start. Steve Cox pinch hit for Difelice and popped up to third before Russ Johnson pinch hit for Sheets. Johnson struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-2.

                                                        Sox win

Hero of The Night is Dante Bichette. He drove in the first run and hit a three run homer to put the game away.

                                                             Hero Bichette

The Good:

Jose Offerman was 2 for 4 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.

Doug Mirabelli was hit with a pitch in 2 plate appearances.

Scott Hatteberg walked, singled, drove in a run and scored s run.

David Cone allowed 2 runs off 5 2/3 innings with 6 hits and 2 walks.

Rich Garces got the win by tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Rod Beck pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

Sun-Woo Kim pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

The Bad:

None

The Ugly:

Trot Nixon was 0 for 3 but walked, drove in a run and scored a run.

Carl Everett was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.

Manny Ramirez was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts with an rbi and a run scored.

Brian Daubach was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.

Chris Stynes was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Mike Lansing was 0 for 3 but walked and scored a run.

Final Thoughts:

That was a good win and shows how good the Sox offense can be when it wants to. They are essentially Nomar Garciaparra away from being elite, too bad about Jason Varitek though. If the Sox had both of them, they can take anyone. Cone looked mortal in this one but he got the outs he needed. Kudos to the bullpen for locking it down once Cone was gone. The Sox have a decision to make on Derek Lowe whether or not they want him to be the closer moving forward. Essentially he's one of the only ones holding them back at this point. They have a month to trade for a closer before the deadline. Historically the Sox have a June swoon but this year they appear to be in much better shape. The New York Yankees lost so the Sox gained a game on them with this win. The Sox are counting down the days until Nomar's return and hopefully they can hang in there until then. The win improved the Sox to 42-27, 3.5 games in front of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to win their fourth straight game and sweep the Rays tomorrow evening when Pedro Martinez (7-1) takes on Tanyon Sturtze of the Rays. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Tropicana Field.