August 27 game

The Red Sox traveled to Tampa Bay for a very important series against the Rays. In game one, a sweet pitching matchup promised to be the story of the game. With two outs in the first, Victor Martinez started the offense with a blast to left that landed three rows deep in the stands. In the fourth, Jed Lowrie connected for a bloop single to send David Ortiz home from third and make the lead 2-0.  Good thing, since in the bottom of the inning, Jon Lester gave up his first hit and threw two straight wild pitches to bring the Rays closer 2-1. However, the run was unearned due to a leadoff error by Marco Scutaro. Amazingly enough, after four innings the sox already had hit for the team cycle.

In the top of the seventh, Victor Martinez came up again with two outs and crushed another home run to almost the exact same spot. That was all Lester needed, and he finished off the Rays in the bottom of the inning. His final stats for the game were two hits, one unearned run, five walks, one hit batter, three wild pitches and ten strikeouts. I think the walks are slightly excessive, but he was able to keep the game under control. In the ninth, Jonathan Papelbon walked two but struck out the side for his 33rd save.

Tonight, Clay Buchholz will search for his 16th win. Buchholz has the league's lowest ERA, at 2.26. He will oppose 13-7 Matt Garza, who has been a Red Sox killer.

Trivia
Buchholz has a 22 and 1/3 scoreless inning streak and has not given up an earned run in his last three starts.