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Rays Hit Bump In Road

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Carlos Pena hits a two run homer in the sixth inning as Jason Varitek #33 of the Boston Red Sox catches at Fenway Park in Boston.

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By CARTER GADDIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 4, 2008

BOSTON - There are going to be days like this for the Rays, even if they roll on and on into September and beyond. The trick will be to limit the number of these days, especially against this team. Especially at this place.

"To win in this league," Rays manager Joe Maddon said, "you've got to win in this ballpark."

One 7-4 loss Tuesday to the Red Sox at the charming little house of horrors known as Fenway Park wasn't enough to stem Tampa Bay's remarkable momentum. After all, the Rays remain atop the American League East standings (if only by a half-game), and still own the best record in the AL.

This was not the way the Rays wanted to begin their nine-game road trip, though. More fitting, by far, in what is shaping up as a dream season for the Rays would have been to have begun the trip with a victory against the team chasing them in the standings.

And winning at Fenway Park, where the Rays are now 23-65 all-time, is one of the biggest tests Tampa Bay must pass before it can began to consider the possibilities of October.

"In order to get to where we want to be, we have to be able to beat these guys at their place," Rays center fielder B.J. Upton said. "I'm sure at the end of the season, if we're in the playoffs, we're probably going to have to run across these guys and we'll be playing here."

Too much of what happened Tuesday carried a whiff of the old days for Tampa Bay.

That foul stench did not emanate from the nearby Back Bay Fens; it came from the bottom of the sixth inning.

With the Rays leading 4-3, Tampa Bay starter Matt Garza led off the inning by hitting Kevin Youkilis with a pitch. Then, Manny Ramirez grounded to the right of shortstop Jason Bartlett.

What looked like a potential double-play grounder turned into a frantic attempt merely to record an out when Bartlett bobbled the ball. Ramirez beat Bartlett's throw to first.

The hit batter and E-6 set up the Sox for a big inning.

Still, Mike Lowell, whose two-run home run had given Boston a 2-1 lead in the second inning, popped out to first base, giving Garza a chance to get out of it with a double-play grounder. Instead, J.D. Drew (whose solo homer had given the Red Sox a 3-2 lead in the fourth) drew a walk to load the bases.

Jason Varitek's single tied it at 4. Coco Crisp's two-run double gave the Sox a 6-4 lead. Jacoby Ellsbury's sacrifice fly made it 7-4.

"We played a pretty good game tonight, but we just didn't make pitches when we had to," Maddon said. "We kept catching the lead. I liked the fight, a lot. The hit batter and then the error obviously opened up the floodgates for them at that point, and they're good. They're good, and they do what they do here.

"But we have to somehow be able to prevent that."

Garza (4-2) left after Crisp's double in the sixth. It was his first loss since May 7 at Toronto.

"The sixth inning, it all started with hitting Youkilis," Garza said. "That should never happen. You throw your fifth-best pitch and it shouldn't hit the batter. It should be in the dirt."

The lead changed five times, four times on home runs. Without David Ortiz (torn tendon sheath, left wrist), the Red Sox relied on the power of Lowell and Drew, as well as a series of tough at-bats against Garza and reliever Grant Balfour in the sixth.

The depth of Boston's lineup was tested against the Rays for the first time since Ortiz suffered his injury over the weekend in Baltimore. For one night, at least, the depth of the defending World Series champions held up.

"They're professional hitters up and down the lineup, and they know what they're doing," Maddon said. "They work good at-bats, and they got us."

Wasted were Carlos Pena's run-scoring double in the fourth and his 11th home run, a two-run blast off Boston starter Justin Masterson (2-0) that gave the Rays a 4-3 lead in the sixth.

Also for naught was Akinori Iwamura's leadoff home run in the first, the second time this season and the fourth time in his career he has led off a game with a homer.

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

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