Red-Hot Ortiz tames Rays

In the third game of the Red Sox-Rays matchup at Fenway, Matt Moore got the start for the Rays against Felix Doubront for the BoSox. Both pitchers pitched a solid first inning, but then in the bottom of the second inning Kevin Youkilis hit a soft single, David Ortiz followed it with a blistering double, then Cody Ross nailed his second homer in as many nights over the Green Monster and out of Fenway for a 3-0 Boston lead. Then in the fourth, Kelly Shoppach nailed a shot to left field that bounced off the wall and sent Ortiz home again, though Cody Ross was out at home. Even with the 4-0 lead, I couldn't shake the feeling that the Rays were going to come back. Well, they did. In the top of the fifth, Carlos Pena crushed a two-run double, then Evan Longoria hit one just over Ross's head that bounced over the bullpen for a ground-rule RBI double. That made it 4-3, and in the sixth Luke Scott led off with a long home run of his own for a tie game. That was enough for Bobby V, who pulled Doubront and put in Scott Atchison. After a single, a walk, and a strikeout, Atchison was gone and Vincente Padilla was in. Padilla shut down the Rays easily in the remainder of the inning with a 4-4 score still standing.

In the bottom of the sixth, Big Papi struck again with a long RBI double, sending in Kevin Youkilis from first base. That made it 5-4 and gave the Sox the lead back. That was great, because I thought that the bullpen could hold the lead. And Padilla did set down the Rays easily in the seventh, and was given some good breathing room when Mike Aviles led off the Sox half with a homer straight out to center field. After an Adrian Gonzalez single in the inning, Moore was finally through, leaving with six runs charged to him. Franklin Morales and Alfredo Aceves each pitched a scoreless inning in relief for Boston, giving Aceves his second save and the Sox a 6-4 win at Fenway. Today the two teams square off in the fourth and final game of the series with a 11:05 A.M. start on Patriots Day.

Worth Noting:
Ortiz is 9-13 with 1 home run, four doubles, and 8 runs batted in so far in this series.