• Recap
• Bleachers

Red Sox send Devil Rays to 10th straight loss

Jul 4, 2007 - 9:59 PM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Playing without two of its top hitters didn't stop Boston's suddenly resurgent offense.

With Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis both getting the day off, J.D. Drew doubled twice and All-Star Mike Lowell homered while Tim Wakefield won for the fourth time in five starts as the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-5, Wednesday at Fenway Park.

The loss sent Tampa Bay to its season-worst 10th straight defeat.

Wakefield (9-8) lasted 6 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs. The knuckleballer walked two and struck out two.

A pair of three-run innings in the fourth and fifth innings broke open a 1-1 game and gave the Red Sox a six-run cushion.

On Tuesday, Ramirez asked manager Terry Francona for the day off while Youkilis got another day off to rest his sore left quadriceps.

"A couple of guys didn't play today and we are still able to have some production throughout the lineup," Francona said. "We talk so much about wanting to use the whole team and we do, and it's nice when you get rewarded with it, too."

Doug Mirabelli's two-out single to right keyed Boston's fourth-inning uprising while Lowell lined a two-run homer to the Green Monster seats an inning later to give Boston a 7-1 advantage.

"It proves every run is important and we needed those two runs, so it was good," Lowell said. "This is an offensive league and we saw how very quickly they put four runs up on the board and getting out to a 7-1 lead is much better than not."

Six of Boston's seven runs on the day came with two outs.

"Obviously, our offense made it a whole lot easier to pitch," Wakefield said. "They scored a lot of runs today and the defense played unbelievable. Doug had a huge two-out hit and Mike Lowell, another two-out homer. We did all our damage with two outs today, very pleased."

Drew, who has struggled in his first season in Boston, batted fourth in Ramirez's absence an doubled ahead of Lowell's 13th homer. He also doubled in the first.

"I didn't even know I was hitting in the four-hole until (Eric) Hinske told me 15 minutes before the game," Drew said. "It was just a situation where I know Manny got a day off and it's really the same approach you take in the five-hole."

Rookie Jacoby Ellsbury picked up his first major league RBI in the fourth inning for the Red Sox, who won their third straight game.

The hard-throwing Edwin Jackson (1-9) continued to struggle for Tampa Bay. The righthander allowed nine hits and seven runs in five innings. He walked one and struck out five as his ERA rose to 7.26.

"I just didn't put people away," Jackson said. "It wasn't a matter of throwing balls and strikes. All the counts I had, they got big hits in. I was ahead in the count and just didn't put people away."

After the Red Sox jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Alex Cora's safety squeeze scored Coco Crisp from third, Raul Casanova tied the game with his fourth homer of the year to the left-center field seats in the second.

The Devil Rays clawed back into the game when they finally knocked Wakefield from the contest in the seventh.

Ty Wigginton and Casanova hit consecutive singles to start the frame. Dustan Mohr fanned before rookie Akinori Iawmura singled to load the bases.

Wakefield was pulled by manager Terry Francona and replaced by lefty Javier Lopez, who promptly yielded a two-run double to All-Star Carl Crawford. Brendan Harris struck out but Carlos Pena, who homered off Jonathan Papelbon Tuesday, singled home two more runs to make it 7-5.

Manny Delcarmen relieved Lopez and struck out three of the five batters he faced.

Papelbon closed things out, pitching a perfect ninth for his 20th save. He became the first Red Sox to record at least 20 saves in consecutive seasons since Derek Lowe had 42 in 2000 and 24 in 2001.

"Last year, I felt like I could have gotten 40-plus," Papelbon said. "I ended the season with 35 with a month to go. My goal is to get above the 40-save mark, the Mason-Dixon line so-to-speak, and become the perennial All-Star and do what (Mariano) Rivera has done for the Yankees the past 10 years."

The Devil Rays (33-50) reached the 50-loss plateau before the All-Star break, falling a season-worst 17 games below .500.

"We are trying to stop all the madness," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "Our guys are trying so darn hard you could almost see them grinding away between the ears. The effort has been good. Everything has been good, we just haven't been winning."