« Tonight's lineups from Tampa
Main
Buchholz and bullpen combine for 4-2 win »
July 27, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The southern headquarters of Red Sox Nation paid homage to the A.L. East leaders last night with a reception fit for a World Series contender.
Red Sox fans came to Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Devils Rays, in droves as most of the 33,144 in attendance were wearing red and white. And, in true Fenway Park fashion, Boston didn’t disappoint its faithful with a 7-1 victory.
“We’re a very popular team,” said Red Sox shortstop and former Devil Ray Julio Lugo. “On the road we have a lot of fans. It’s great. Everywhere we go we feel like we’re at home.”
Kevin Youkilis provided the much-needed spark for the Red Sox with a three-run homer in the top of the sixth before Boston added four in the eighth en route to its fourth victory on the club’s current seven-game road trip with two remaining here.
“Beautiful,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona of the Youkilis homer. “It came at a point when we hadn’t done a whole lot. We were patient and got base runners just in case somebody does run into one we get the dividends.”
Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield improved to 12-9 on the season, while reliever Manny Delcarmen continues his resurgence in the Boston bullpen. With his victory, Wakefield becomes the all-time leader in victories (17) over the Devil Rays.
“When the environment is controlled he’s not battling elements,” said Francona. “We certainly weren’t doing enough offensively early, and the way he pitched allowed us to stay patient, so we could do something later. He did a great job. It probably looked like Manny Delcarmen was throwing 110 after Wake, he was making real good pitches.”
The Red Sox haven’t played here in almost a year, dating back to last Aug. 6 and maybe that’s a good thing because Boston hasn’t had much luck at The Trop since 2005. Entering last night’s game the Red Sox had a 7-12 record here, but quickly turned that around last night.
"I like pitching here,” said Wakefield of his eighth career win in 10 years at Tropicana Field. “I like pitching inside, I’ve always said that. Other than the second inning, I felt like I had pretty good control of everything tonight.”
On the heels of a solid 3-1 series against the Cleveland Indians, Boston continued its momentum.
The Devils Rays returned to The Trop last night after a horrid 1-6 road trip through New York and Baltimore and it seemed as though a bit of home cooking would work for Tampa. After the Devil Rays pushed a run across in the bottom of the second inning, 24-year-old starter Jason Hammel took care of the rest – at least for the time being.
The right-hander retired the first 11 batters he faced before David Ortiz line a single to right field with two outs in the fourth. It didn’t faze Hammel as he retired the five batters before issuing back-to-back walks in the sixth inning.
Tampa manager Joe Maddon decided that was enough and gave Hammel the hook, replacing him with reliever Juan Salas with one out and two on. That’s when Youkilis crushed a 2-1 offering from Salas and deposited it into the left-field seats for a three-run homer to give Boston its first lead of the night.
The Devil Rays couldn’t muster any more run support off Wakefield, who finished six full innings and allowed just one run on six hits with seven strikeouts. After the knuckleballer was done for the night, the revival of Delcarmen continued.
The hard-throwing right-hander retired the side in order in the seventh before Boston added to its lead in the top of the eighth inning. J.D. Drew provided an RBI-single, his first hit in the last 12 at-bats, and with two outs Coco Crisp contributed a two-run double. Doug Mirabelli helped with an RBI-single for a 7-1 advantage.
Delcarmen worked a scoreless eighth inning and has allowed only one run in his last 12 appearances. With the Red Sox holding a six-run lead Kyle Snyder finished the job.
Somewhat ironic, when Boston made the final out of the game, most everyone in attendance gave the “home” team a standing ovation. Expect much of the same today and tomorrow.
“I’m not ever surprised by the support we get,” said Francona. “We have great fans.”
----JOE McDONALD
Posted by Thom Cahir 
at 10:44 PM to McDonald
| Permalink
