G131: Rays 5, Red Sox 3

Red Sox - 000 021 000 - 3  7  0
Rays    - 000 103 10x - 5 11  0

Lackey was looking pretty good through 5.1 innings. He had struck out six batters and had allowed only a solo bomb to Carlos Pena and a couple of harmless singles -- each coming with two outs in the inning. He had retired 14 of the last 16 batters and thrown only 66 pitches -- and he was up, 3-1.

Then:

Zobrist single
Crawford home run (3-3)
Longoria double
Pena intentional walk
Joyce walk
Johnson single (3-4), Pena out at plate
Upton strikeout looking

7th inning:
Bartlett single, caught stealing
Jaso single
Zobrist walk
(Jaso scored on Longoria single off Okajima)

Nine of Lackey's last 10 batters reached base. Once his meltdown was complete, the Red Sox managed only one base runner -- Ryan Kalish's walk with two outs in the ninth inning.

Boston is now 6.5 GB both Tampa Bay and New York (who beat the White Sox 2-1) with 31 games to play. Monday: Red Sox off, Yankees/A's, Blue Jays/Rays.

John Lackey / James Shields

Scutaro, SS
Drew, RF
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Lowell, 1B
Nava, LF
McDonald, CF
Navarro, 2B

I didn't want to rely on Lackey to salvage this important series, but here we are. So, let's go, you handsome overwhelming force of nature, you tower of pitching power.



Victor Martinez loves to hit against the Rays. The Herald's John Tomase notes that Martinez's

.381 average against the Rays is the highest ever for a player with at least 130 at-bats. And his .425 mark at Tropicana Field is the best in stadium history among anyone with at least 100 at-bats.

And: Yankees/White Sox, 2 PM

August 29:

1966 - Detroit's Denny McLain throws 229 pitches in a 6-3 win over the Orioles. In nine innings, he allows eight hits and nine walks, while striking out 11. (The box does not contain pitch data, but various sources claim it was 229.)

2000 - Pedro Martinez pitches a one-hitter and the Red Sox beat the Devil Rays 8-0. Martinez drills Gerald Williams to start the first inning, then retires 24 in a row before John Flaherty ends the no-hit bid with a single in the ninth. This was the game in which several TB pitchers were using Brian Daubach as target practice. Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times writes that the game included "eight Devil Rays ejected, two bench-clearing skirmishes, four hit batters, a handful of punches thrown, two Boston players at the hospital ... [and] taunting comments by Martinez that there may be more to come". It's hard to believe this game was 10 years ago.