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Ortiz, Red Sox pound Price and Rays to take 2-0 series edge

Oct 6, 2013 - 4:42 AM Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Boston didn't need any help from Tampa Bay this time.

David Ortiz and the Red Sox knocked around David Price instead.

Ortiz smacked two solo homers in Boston's 7-4 triumph over the Rays in Game 2 of their American League Division Series.

After Tampa Bay's defensive miscues opened the floodgates for a 12-2 Boston rout in Game 1, the Red Sox pounded the 2012 AL Cy Young-winner Price (0-1) for seven runs on nine hits and two walks over seven-plus innings.

Price had been 2-0 in three starts at Fenway this season and allowed just three runs over 22 1/3 innings. He was 6-1 with a minuscule 1.88 ERA over 10 career starts in Beantown coming into Saturday.

Price retired seven consecutive Red Sox batters before Ortiz led off the eighth with a towering shot down the right field line that hooked around the Pesky Pole for a 7-4 Boston lead. The blast gave Ortiz his first career two- homer postseason game.

"He's the main cog in our lineup," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Ortiz.

Koji Uehara fanned two in a 1-2-3 ninth to notch the save.

Boston has tallied 19 runs and 25 hits so far in the set.

Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits, three runs scored and an RBI and Dustin Pedroia drove in three for Boston, which will go for the series sweep Monday in St. Petersburg.

"It's not over," Ortiz said. "We know we're playing against a good ballclub. They always find a way to win games, and you can't take anything for granted."

John Lackey yielded four runs on seven hits and three walks over 5 1/3 frames in his first postseason start for the Red Sox. Lackey posted a 10-13 mark with a 3.52 ERA in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery.

James Loney belted a two-run double among his two hits for the Rays, who won three win-or-go-home games in three different cities to reach this series.

"We just went through a week of (our) backs against the wall, so it's not new to us," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Boston this time of the year is kind of lovely, and I'm looking forward to coming back in a few days."

Needing a 163rd game to earn a wild-card berth, Price's two-run, complete-game seven-hitter in the tiebreaker against the Texas Rangers put Tampa Bay into the postseason.

Boston, though, whacked the lefty around early and jumped out to a 5-1 fourth- inning lead.

The Red Sox plated a pair in the first.

Ellsbury flared a base hit into right to lead off the frame. He stole second and scampered to third after Jose Molina's short-hop throw into second bounced into center field. He came home when Pedroia lifted a sacrifice fly into right center two batters later. Ortiz stepped up next and drilled a second-pitch fastball into the Boston bullpen in right to make it 2-0.

Delmon Young's sacrifice fly in the second got Tampa Bay on the board, but the Red Sox pushed two more runs across in the third.

David Ross banged a double off the Green Monster to start the inning and Ellsbury fisted a two-bagger down the left field line to bring home Ross. Shane Victorino shot a base hit through the hole on the left side of the infield to put runners on the corners with none away, and Pedroia's groundout to third scored Ellsbury to make it 4-1.

Stephen Drew's RBI triple in the fourth increased the margin to four, but the Rays cut it in half following a two-run fifth.

Yunel Escobar hit a ground-rule double to begin the frame before Jose Molina grounded out. After David DeJesus was hit by a pitch, Loney pounded a double off the Green Monster to plate Escobar and DeJesus to make it 5-3.

Price was unable to register a shutdown inning, however, as Ellsbury and Pedroia helped Boston get a run back in the home half. Ellsbury singled and Pedroia laced a double down the left field line two batters later to bring Ellsbury home for a 6-3 Boston spread.

Escobar's RBI single in the sixth cut the gap to 6-4.

Game Notes

Twenty-three of the 24 teams that have jumped ahead 2-0 in the divisional series since 2004 have gone on to win the set ... Boston was 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position, while Tampa Bay finished 2-for-8 with RISP.