G78: Red Sox 8, Rays 5

Rays    - 000 000 122 - 5 12  0
Red Sox - 000 032 30x - 8 10  1

Lackey (7-8-1-2-3, 108) was a bit Diceian -- he allowed at least one baserunner in six of his seven innings and stranded two runners at third -- but he kept the Rays off the board until his 30th batter.

Boston needed five relievers to navigate the final two innings, including Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon, though they each faced only one batter and threw only five and six pitches, respectively.

David Ortiz launched a three-run bomb in the fifth. The first three batters in the sixth reached base against Shields (5-7-5-2-6, 109) and two of them scored, with Jason Varitek and Daniel Nava getting the RBI. Varitek added a sac fly in the seventh and Bill Hall hit a two-run dong.

Adrian Beltre went 4-for-4, with two doubles and two runs scored.

The Mariners scored in five consecutive innings off Phil Hughes and beat the Yankees 7-4. The Red Sox are 1 GB New York.

James Shields / John Lackey

Scutaro, SS
Nava, LF
Ortiz, DH
Youkilis, 1B
Drew, RF
Beltre, 3B
Varitek, C
Hall, 2B
Cameron, CF

On May 24, the Red Sox were 8 GB the first-place Rays. Since then, there has been a shift of nine games in the standings, and Boston is now 1 GA of Tampa Bay -- and 2 GB the Yankees.

                     Rays    Red Sox
April 6 to May 23   32-12     24-21
May 24 to June 28   12-19     22-10

The Rays have won only three of their last 11 games, and five of their last 16.

On Sunday, center fielder B.J. Upton jogged after a triple in the gap and had to be restrained when Evan Longoria confronted him about it in the dugout. Longoria called it "the byproduct of a frustrated team". Manager Joe Maddon said it was "obvious" that Upton "did not run as hard as he could after the ball".

Shields's last six games: 8.12 ERA, with a .954 opponents OPS.

Also at 7 PM: Mariners/Yankees

June 29

1897 - The Chicago Colts of the National League establish the record for most runs scored in a game, beating Louisville 36-7. No team will score 30+ runs for more than 110 years, until the Rangers defeat the Orioles 30-3 on August 22, 2007.

1905 - Moonlight Graham of the Giants plays in his only major league game.