Jun 30, 2008 - 8:04 AM
0 shoutsBoston (50-34) at Tampa Bay (49-32), 7:10 pm EDT
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- With only a half-game seperating them in the standings, the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox will square off Monday in the opener of a three-game series.
The Rays grabbed their slim lead in the American League East on Sunday with a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Shawn Riggans and Willy Aybar both hit home runs for Tampa Bay, which has won 11 of its past 15 games and finished 5-1 on a six-game interleague road swing.
Coupled with the Red Sox's 3-2 loss to the Houston Astros on Sunday, the victory helped the Rays move past the defending champions into first place in the division standings for the first time since June 3.
Boston was burned by a former Red Sox as Mark Loretta gave the Astros the lead with two outs in the eighth inning when he lined an RBI single into center field off reliever Hideki Okajima, who has allowed 12 of his last 15 inherited runners to score.
Rookie Justin Masterson (4-1, 3.43 ERA) will take the mound for the Red Sox, who are looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak since being swept by the Oakland Athletics from May 23-25.
Tampa Bay will counter with James Shields (5-5, 3.76), who snapped a three-game losing streak in his last outing. The righthander tossed seven frames, yielding a run and four hits with five strikeouts in Wednesday's 15-3 rout of the Florida Marlins.
From the Bleachers
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BOSTON: 4
TAMPA BAY: 5
Final
Jun 30 10:06 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY JASON VARITEK SCORED KEVIN YOUKILIS.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, B MOSS ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 4
TAMPA BAY 5 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J LUGO (.270, 0-FOR-3)
Jun 30 9:58 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY BRANDON MOSS SCORED MIKE LOWELL.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, B MOSS ON SECOND, K YOUKILIS ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 3
TAMPA BAY 5 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J VARITEK (.222, 0-FOR-3)
Jun 30 9:56 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
FIELDER'S CHOICE BY JONNY GOMES SCORED CARL CRAWFORD.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J GOMES ON FIRST, C PENA ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 2
TAMPA BAY 5 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: D NAVARRO (.314, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Jun 30 9:28 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY J.D. DREW (16) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT IN THE
6TH OFF JAMES SHIELDS.
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 2, TAMPA BAY 4
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: M RAMIREZ (.288, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Jun 30 8:42 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY CARLOS PENA SCORED WILLY AYBAR.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C PENA ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1
TAMPA BAY 4 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: E LONGORIA (.268, 0-FOR-2)
Jun 30 8:32 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY GABE GROSS (6) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 4TH OFF JUSTIN MASTERSON SCORED DIONER NAVARRO.
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1, TAMPA BAY 3
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: J BARTLETT (.251, 0-FOR-1)
Jun 30 8:16 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MIKE LOWELL SCORED DUSTIN PEDROIA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M LOWELL ON FIRST, M RAMIREZ ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1
TAMPA BAY 1 TOP, 4TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: K YOUKILIS (.312, 0-FOR-1)
Jun 30 8:03 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY
CONFIRMED STARTERS: BOS - JUSTIN MASTERSON
TAM - JAMES SHIELDS
Jun 30 7:16 PM
