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Andy Keeps Doing Job

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Rays' starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine delivers a pitch against Boston in the first inning.

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 15, 2008

Updated: 10/15/2008 12:56 am

BOSTON - When the Rays need a starter to go deep into a game protecting a one- or two-run lead, they probably would prefer to have James Shields on the mound.

When they have built a more sizable advantage, however, there are few better at closing it out than Andy Sonnanstine.

The soft-tossing right-hander lulled the Red Sox into submission Tuesday night, making full use of the five-run lead his teammates handed him early (and later doubled) as he continued his dominance of Boston's lineup.

Though not as statistically impressive as his pair of starts against the Red Sox in mid-September, when he didn't allow an earned run over 13 innings, Tuesday's performance was a perfect illustration of how effective Sonnanstine can be when pitching from a position of strength.

"For me it was awesome," Sonnanstine said. "Before I even threw the first pitch of the game I already had a 3-0 lead. I mean, it's exciting every time I've got to get up and go slap hands with the guys who just scored, and I did that quite a bit tonight."

An opponent in a big hole knows it needs some multi-run innings to come back, but the harder the team tries, the more difficult it gets against Sonnanstine. He generally doesn't walk batters - he issued one Tuesday - and doesn't serve up the kind of fastballs hitters are eager to pounce on when they know they need to do more than just string together a few singles.

The most straightforward demonstration of the way Sonnanstine can frustrate a team came in the bottom of the sixth. The Rays had sent 10 men to the plate in the top of the inning, scoring five times. The Red Sox came out hacking in the bottom half, and Sonnanstine dispatched them in order on nine pitches - even though he fell behind 2-0 to J.D. Drew and 1-0 to Dustin Pedroia.

With a lead like that, all he wanted them to do was put the ball in play. As his mid- to high-80s velocity doesn't help a hitter when it comes to driving the ball, he was perfectly content to let the Red Sox swing away and try to pile up as many solo homers as they could muster.

"He throws a ball or two and starts to get out of whack, he gathers himself, stays over the rubber, and he's obviously very confident against us right now," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "You can tell he feels good about himself, as he should."

Sonnanstine ended up retiring 12 in a row - none on strikeouts - between Tampa native Kevin Cash's homer leading off the third inning and David Ortiz's near-homer that went for a triple to open the seventh.

His 71/3 innings matched the longest outing by a Rays starter this postseason, and the four runs he ultimately allowed were hardly cause for concern. Once again, Sonnanstine simply did his job.

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