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Boston aims to bounce back against Rays

Jul 16, 2011 - 3:18 PM (Sports Network) - The AL East-leading Boston Red Sox will try to stay ahead of the pack when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays today in the second contest of a three-game set at Tropicana Field.

There was a point in time this season when James Shields was an unstoppable force. That has not been the case, however, over his last three outings, which is why the break was likely needed for the right-hander to regain some steam.

Shields has dropped three straight starts, but the last time he was on the hill he was the victim of a lack of run support. The right-hander tossed eight innings against the Yankees and allowed just one unearned run, but against a sharp Sabathia that was enough to land the veteran hurler in the loss column.

During Shields' red-hot run the right-hander shut down the mighty Red Sox, tossing nine scoreless innings against them, scattering five hits, while striking out five batters. However, in 17 starts against the boys from Beantown, Shields is just 6-9 with a 4.71 earned run average.

Will the real John Lackey please stand up. The right-hander has been extremely erratic this season, and it's hard to figure what pitcher will show up from one game to the next.

The last time Lackey was on the rubber he tossed 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball against Baltimore. He scattered three hits, and struck out seven batters for his sixth win.

However, before that victory the veteran right-hander dropped three straight starts and in two of those outings he did not make it past the fourth inning.

In 16 career outings against Tampa Bay, Lackey is 11-4 with a respectable 3.75 earned run average, but in six road matchups this season the right-hander has struggled, allowing 5.92 runs per outing.

Last night, Ben Zobrist hit a grand slam and drove in a total of five runs, as the Rays held off Boston, 9-6.

Casey Kotchman added a two-run homer and scored twice for the Rays, who snapped a brief two-game skid. Sam Fuld and B.J. Upton both knocked in a run.

David Price (9-7) allowed three runs on five hits over six innings to pick up the win. He struck out seven and walked one.

Marco Scutaro hit a two-run homer for the Red Sox, who got solo home runs from Darnell McDonald, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia. Boston is 1 1/2 games ahead of the rival New York Yankees in the division.

Andrew Miller (3-1), who had won three straight starts, gave up seven runs on five hits over just 2 2/3 innings. He walked five and struck out zero for Boston, which had a six-game winning streak snapped.

The Rays have won four of six from the Red Sox this season.