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Big fourth inning leads Red Sox past Rays

May 3, 2008 - 6:25 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- A long rain delay was apparently just what Dustin Pedroia and the struggling Boston Red Sox lineup needed.

Pedroia snapped an 0-for-16 slump with two hits and three RBI and Brandon Moss homered and threw out a runner at the plate to lead the Red Sox over the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-3, on Friday in a game that started 2 hours, 27 minutes late due to rain.

Clay Buchholz (2-2) started for Boston and allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. The righthander was supported by a lineup that finally found its rhythm.

"We needed it," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of the breakout offensive night. "(Buchholz) went out and I thought his stuff was phenomenal. I thought his command at times got him into a couple of jams, but he had the stuff to pitch out of it."

Entering Friday's series opener, the Red Sox had scored a total of just five runs in their previous five games.

"We haven't had a lot of room to work with, nothing going on for about a week," Pedroia said. "We've been facing guys that have been pounding the zone with good stuff, so we didn't really have an opportunity to get things going. And we haven't been swinging the bats at our best either. It's been kind of tough."

But Boston roughed up Edwin Jackson (2-3) in the fourth, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five times after the first two hitters were retired.

Moss began the two-out uprising with a solo homer to straightaway center, his second blast of the season. Three batters later, Jacoby Ellsbury delivered an RBI single, and Pedroia followed with a two-run base hit to make it 5-0.

"We've definitely been scrapping and been facing a lot of good pitchers, and Edwin's a really good pitcher, too, with a very good fastball and a good slider," Moss said. "Fortunate for us, we've faced a couple of guys throwing 98 (miles per hour) the last two days, so we weren't too far behind it."

Prior to Ellsbury's single, Jackson issued a walk to Julio Lugo, which Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon thought was key.

"He was going along well and there were two outs," Maddon said. "Moss hits a homer, and that's OK. The big play probably of the whole game was the walk to Lugo. It was a 1-2 count that went from 1-2 to a walk, and then Ellsbury and then Pedroia and then (David) Ortiz followed up."

Ortiz capped the big inning with a sharp single through the overshift in right. It was Boston's biggest inning since scoring five in the fourth against Texas in an 8-3 win on April 21.

"Petey (Pedroia) had a big two-out hit," Francona said. "That certainly changed the inning. Sometimes that's what it is. I don't think it was a different attitude. We just had some success in an inning, and it carried over enough for us to win the game."

Jackson allowed a double by Mike Lowell and walked Kevin Youkilis to open the fifth before being pulled. The Rays' starter yielded six runs and nine hits in four-plus innings, walking three and striking out four.

While Jackson was unable to avoid the big inning, Buchholz escaped trouble in both the second and third, stranding two in each frame while keeping the Rays off the board. Buchholz was aided by sparkling outfield defense from Moss, who threw out Evan Longoria at the plate in the second.

"It was all a matter of avoiding the big inning, and even so, there's been chances for other teams to do something with an inning," Buchholz said. "I had two runners on a couple of times today with less than two outs. I just somehow found a way to make a couple of pitches and miss a couple of bats and get some ground balls. It's sort of all coming together."

The first two runners reached against Buchholz in the third, but the righthander struck out Jonny Gomes, Carlos Pena and Longoria in succession to get out of the jam.

"We had ample opportunities early on there to do different things, but we just didn't take advantage," Maddon said. "He's good. He is good. He's got weapons to get out of jams against righties and lefties.

"That's the second time I've seen him and he's very impressive, and I'm sure he's going to do that to a lot of different teams."

Hideki Okajima pitched a perfect eighth and Jonathan Papelbon tossed a scoreless ninth to clinch the victory.