Fenway Park Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek homered to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 5-3 victory over the suddenly struggling Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night. Matt Clement pitched 6 2/3 solid innings, helping the AL East-leading Red Sox to their ninth win in 12 games. The Phillies have lost fourth straight after a 13-1 stretch.
Clement (4-3) allowed three runs and five hits. He left after allowing consecutive two-out singles in the seventh. Keith Foulke entered and allowed Utley's two-run double into the right-field corner before striking out Bobby Abreu to preserve a two-run lead.
The Boston Red Sox are showing why they have so much history in baseball. Boston is currently 24-15 and holds one of the best records in the league just behind the White Sox and the Tigers in the American League.
Lineup
1. Trot Nixon, RF. 2.Mark Loretta, 2nd B. 3. David Ortiz, 1st B. 4. Manny Ramirez, LF. 5. Jason Varitek, C. 6.Mike Lowell, 3rd B. 7. Wily Mo Pena, CF. 8.Alex Gonzalez, SS. 9.Matt Clement, P. Aubrey Huff 10th-inning home run gave the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a 5-4 victory Friday night over the Florida Marlins and also gave him the added satisfaction of helping his former minor league manager get his first big league win.
Bill Evers, in his first season as a major league coach, is filling in during the first two games of the interleague series while manager Joe Maddon is attending his girlfriend's graduation from law school in California.
"I haven't hit that many balls hard. It's good to get something going and contribute," said Huff, who also had a RBI double and went 2-for-4 after beginning the night batting .123 with no homers.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays ended a seven-game losing streak in an intrastate rivalry that's never really taken off with fans in the Sunshine State. Attendance at Tropicana Field was announced as 10,017 -- lowest ever for a home game against the Marlins.
The D'Rays really needed to end their losing streak because they don't exactly have one of the best records in the league and if they want to have something better than the last place they need to play more focus and not commit as many mistakes ad they have in the past.
Interesting series to watch, surely most sportsbooks will have the Red Sox as big favorites; but if Tampa Bay can win at least one game it'll be a good thing for people who like to bet on the underdog, you just have to find out when it will happen.
Lineup
1. Julio Lugo, SS. 2. Carl Crawford, LF. 3. Jonny Gomes, DH. 4. Aubrey Huff, 3rd B. 5. Ty Wigginton, 2nd B. 6. Travis Lee, 1B. 7. Toby Hall, C. 8. Damon Hollins, RF. 9. Joey Gathright, CF. |
