Jul 2, 2008 - 9:28 AM
4 shoutsBoston () at Tampa Bay () 7:10 p.m. EDT
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Rays will send ace Scott Kazmir to the mound Wednesday in search of a sweep of a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.
The Rays are proving a little bit more each day that they are no fluke, especially when it comes to pitching. James Shields dominated the Red Sox in the series opener on Monday and Matt Garza proved even better on Tuesday.
Garza yielded just an unearned run in seven inning and Dioner Navarro drove in two for Tampa bay, which beat Boston for the fifth straight time at Tropicana Field to open up a 2 1/2 game lead in the American League East.
After finishing with the worst record in the majors in each of the past two seasons and never topping 70 victories in any of the franchise's first 10 campaigns, the Rays are finally a legitimate contender.
Kazmir (7-3, 2.28 ERA) will try to make it a clean sweep on Wednesday. The 24-year-old lefthander has dominated Boston in the past and is in top form this season, having yet to allow more than three earned runs or six hits in a start.
He faced the Red Sox on May 4 in his first game off the disabled list with elbow trouble and lasted just four innings in a loss, but owns a career 6-6 mark with a 2.82 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 18 starts against the division rivals.
Boston will counter with righthander Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-1, 3.21). The Japanese hurler bounced back nicely from an outing on June 21 in which he was charged with seven runs in one-plus innings, tossing five scoreless frames to pick up a win Friday at Houston.
Matsuzaka has yet to face the Rays this season but made five starts against them in his 2007 rookie campaign, going 1-3 with a 4.09 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 33 total frames.
From the Bleachers
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BOSTON: 6
TAMPA BAY: 7
Final
Jul 2 11:04 PM -
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AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY KEVIN YOUKILIS SCORED MANNY RAMIREZ.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M LOWELL ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 6
TAMPA BAY 7 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J VARITEK (.217, 0-FOR-3, BB)
Jul 2 11:01 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY DUSTIN PEDROIA SCORED JULIO LUGO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D PEDROIA ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 5
TAMPA BAY 7 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J DREW (.304, 2-FOR-3, BB, RBI)
Jul 2 10:39 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JASON BARTLETT SCORED CARLOS PENA AND EVAN
LONGORIA.
SITUATION: 6 RUNS IN, J BARTLETT ON FIRST, D NAVARRO ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 4
TAMPA BAY 7 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: A IWAMURA (.276, 1-FOR-4, RBI)
Jul 2 10:28 PM -
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-
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY EVAN LONGORIA SCORED CARL CRAWFORD AND B.J.
UPTON.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, E LONGORIA ON SECOND, C PENA ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 4
TAMPA BAY 5 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: W AYBAR (.262, 0-FOR-1)
Jul 2 10:12 PM -
Red Sox 4, Rays 3 Bot 7
jllanclos
Sox trying to blow it. 4-2 Sox att says have them loaded
Jul 2 10:10 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
BASES LOADED WALK TO CARLOS PENA SCORED AKINORI IWAMURA.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, C PENA ON FIRST, B UPTON ON SECOND, C
CRAWFORD ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 4
TAMPA BAY 3 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: E LONGORIA (.272, 2-FOR-3, RB
Jul 2 10:10 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY AKINORI IWAMURA SCORED JASON BARTLETT.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A IWAMURA ON FIRST, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 4
TAMPA BAY 2 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: C CRAWFORD (.273, 1-FOR-2, BB)
Jul 2 10:00 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
WILD PITCH BY SCOTT KAZMIR ALLOWED J.D. DREW TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, K YOUKILIS ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 4
TAMPA BAY 1 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J VARITEK (.219, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Jul 2 9:01 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY J.D. DREW SCORED DUSTIN PEDROIA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J DREW ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 3
TAMPA BAY 1 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: M RAMIREZ (.281, 0-FOR-2, RBI)
Jul 2 8:53 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY MANNY RAMIREZ SCORED DUSTIN PEDROIA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J DREW ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 2
TAMPA BAY 1 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: M LOWELL (.299, 0-FOR-0, BB)
Jul 2 8:13 PM -
AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY EVAN LONGORIA SCORED B.J. UPTON.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, E LONGORIA ON FIRST, C PENA ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1
TAMPA BAY 1 BOTTOM, 1ST
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: C FLOYD (.248, 6 HR, 15 RBI)
Jul 2 7:28 PM -
AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
BOSTON 1 1 1 0
TAMPA BAY 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: BOS - DAISUKE MATSUZAKA
TAM - SCOTT KAZMIR
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BA
Jul 2 7:16 PM
