Red Sox 8 - 6 Rays
Final
  for this game

Matsuzaka to take mound when Red Sox face Devil Rays

Sep 22, 2007 - 1:05 PM Boston (91-63) at Tampa Bay (63-91) 7:10 pm EDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) - The Boston Red Sox broke out of their slump with a victory on Friday. They will look to stay on the winning track when they visit the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the second game of a three-game series on Saturday.

The Red Sox had dropped four games in a row and five of six to watch their once commanding lead in the American League East Division shring to just 1 1/2 games over the New York Yankees (88-65) coming into the series against the Devil Rays.

But Friday's win coincided with a Yankees' loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, pushing the advantage back to 2 1/2 games with eight contests remaining.

Boston, which had managed a total of eight runs in their four straight losses, broke out on Friday in the 8-1 win, getting homers from David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (14-12, 4.41 ERA) will head to the mound trying to make it two in a row for the Red Sox. The Japanese righthander went through a five-start stretch in which he compiled a 1-4 record with a 9.57 ERA, but came back with a strong outing on September 14 against the Yankees - holding them to two runs in 5 2/3 frames.

Matsuzaka, who is used to a 135-game season and six-man rotations in Japan, was given seven days off before Saturday's start in the hope that he will stay fresh for the playoffs.

The Devil Rays will counter with rookie Andy Sonnanstine (6-9, 5.68). The 24-year-old righthander has gotten knocked around by Boston twice in the last 30 days, going 0-2 while allowing 12 runs in 8 1/3 combined innings.








  • AL
    FINAL
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
    - - - - - - - - - - - -
    BOSTON 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 3 8 13 0
    TAMPA BAY 0 0 0 2 0 1 3 0 0 6 7 0 (FINAL)

    BATTERIES: BOS - DAISUKE MATSUZAKA, JAVIER LOPEZ (7TH), MIKE TIMLIN (7TH), ERIC
    GAGNE (8TH), JONATHAN PAPELBON (9TH) AND JASON VARITEK
    TAM - ANDY SONNANSTINE, JON SWITZER (6TH

    Sep 22 10:43 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY JULIO LUGO (8) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN
    THE 9TH OFF AL REYES SCORED ERIC HINSKE.
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 8, TAMPA BAY 6
    DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J ELLSBURY (.367, 1-FOR-4, RBI)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 10:28 PM
  • 10
    roots
    RUWTbot Took away 60 roots (Close Finish)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 10:28 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    SOLO HOME RUN BY JASON VARITEK (15) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN
    THE 9TH OFF AL REYES.
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 6, TAMPA BAY 6
    DUE UP FOR BOSTON: E HINSKE (.207, 0-FOR-3)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 10:20 PM
  • 70
    roots
    RUWTbot Added 25 roots (Close Finish)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 10:20 PM
  • 45
    roots
    RUWTbot Added 35 roots (Close Finish)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 10:17 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY CARLOS PENA (42) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT
    IN THE 7TH OFF JAVIER LOPEZ SCORED AKINORI IWAMURA AND JORGE
    VELANDIA.
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 5, TAMPA BAY 6
    DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: B UPTON (.304, 0-FOR-3)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 9:51 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    SINGLE BY GREG NORTON SCORED B.J. UPTON.
    SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, G NORTON ON FIRST, 2 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 5
    TAMPA BAY 3 BOTTOM, 6TH
    DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: J GOMES (.245, 0-FOR-2)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 9:19 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY J.D. DREW (10) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN
    THE 6TH OFF ANDY SONNANSTINE SCORED MIKE LOWELL.
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 5, TAMPA BAY 2
    DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J VARITEK (.254, 1-FOR-1, BB, RBI)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 9:00 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    SINGLE BY GREG NORTON SCORED DELMON YOUNG.
    SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, G NORTON ON FIRST, 1 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 3
    TAMPA BAY 2 BOTTOM, 4TH
    DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: J GOMES (.246, 0-FOR-1)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 8:30 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    SOLO HOME RUN BY CARLOS PENA (41) TO RIGHT WITH 0 OUT IN
    THE 4TH OFF DAISUKE MATSUZAKA.
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 3, TAMPA BAY 1
    DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: B UPTON (.305, 0-FOR-1)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 8:24 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    SINGLE BY JASON VARITEK SCORED J.D. DREW.
    SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J VARITEK ON FIRST, 0 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 3
    TAMPA BAY 0 TOP, 4TH
    DUE UP FOR BOSTON: E HINSKE (.209, 0-FOR-1)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 8:15 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    DOUBLE BY J.D. DREW SCORED MIKE LOWELL.
    SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J DREW ON SECOND, 0 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 2
    TAMPA BAY 0 TOP, 4TH
    DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J VARITEK (.252, 0-FOR-0, BB)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 8:12 PM


  • AL
    AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
    SINGLE BY JACOBY ELLSBURY SCORED COCO CRISP.
    SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J ELLSBURY ON FIRST, 1 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1
    TAMPA BAY 0 TOP, 3RD
    DUE UP FOR BOSTON: D PEDROIA (.318, 0-FOR-1)

    Red Sox vs. RaysSep 22 7:57 PM

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