G149: Rays 9, Red Sox 2

Rays     - 004 002 300 - 9  9  0
Red Sox  - 001 000 001 - 2  6  1

Miller (3-3-4-2-1, 61) retired the first seven Rays, then gave up a double to John Jaso. After getting the second out of the inning, he walked Desmond Jennings, allowed an RBI-single to B.J. Upton (both the bat and ball sailed out towards shortstop Marco Scutaro; the bat arrived first, and because Scutaro was avoiding the lumber, the ball rolled untouched into left field), and was tagged for a three-run home run by Evan Longoria.

Those four runs were more than enough for Tampa Bay as the Red Sox continued their September slide. What was a nine-game WC lead over the Rays when the month began is down to a mere three games, with 13 games left on the schedule (including three against Tampa this weekend). Boston has lost seven of their last eight games, nine of their last 11, and 11 of 14.

Bright Spot: Jose Iglesias's single in the ninth inning was his first major league hit.

Jeremy Hellickson / Kyle Weiland

Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Youkilis, 3B
Reddick, RF
Crawford, LF
Saltamacchia, C
Scutaro, SS

Tampa Bay is in town for the most important four games of the year ... so far! Tonight is a rematch of last Saturday's game in Florida, which the Rays won 6-5.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia wants Weiland to be more aggressive:

Not one pitch stays straight, so I think we're going to attack the zone a little bit more tomorrow, try to get them to swing a little bit instead of going 2-0, 3-0 on guys and walking. He's got good enough stuff where we don't have to hit the corners. He can just go after guys.

David Ortiz is wearing a brace to help alleviate the discomfort in his back. He does not know if he will be able to play tonight. Adrian Gonzalez, who left yesterday's game with a tight calf, might be able to DH in Ortiz's stead. Gonzalez said he felt discomfort when he grounded out in the third inning, the muscle tightened up when he was in the field in the fourth, and got worse during his home run trot in the sixth. Evil Bert: "They didn't want me to keep going out there and making it worse. Better play it safe than sorry, I guess."

The Red Sox are only 12-13 in their last 25 games at Fenway Park.

East
Yankees  90 58  ---
Red Sox  86 62  4.0   
Rays     82 66  8.0
All three teams have 14 games remaining
Yankees Magic # over Rays: 7
Yankees Magic # over Red Sox: 11
  
Wild Card
Red Sox  86 62  ---
Rays     82 66  4.0
Angels   82 67  4.5
Red Sox Magic # over Angels: 10
Red Sox Magic # over Rays: 11

Game thread. ... The Yankees are off, and begin a series in Toronto on Friday.