« Pregame Notes, Aug. 22
Main
Game Story: Dice-K gets little run support as Sox fall to D'Rays »

Final: Devil Rays 2, Red Sox 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- For the Red Sox, opportunity wasted meant a ballgame lost tonight.

The Sox got just one run out of a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity in the third, had a runner thrown out at the plate in the fifth, and stranded 14 baserunners overall as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Devil Rays in the finale of a three-game series at Tropicana Field.

B.J. Upton's two-run homer off Daisuke Matsuzaka in the sixth -- one of only two hits allowed by the Sox right-hander, who fell to 13-10 for the season -- gave Tampa Bay its margin of victory. The only other threat by the Rays came off Mike Timlin in the seventh, but Timlin escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam.

The Sox, meanwhile, scored only in the third despite having runners on base in every inning. Dustin Pedroia was hit on the elbow leading off the third -- he suffered a bruise that forced him to leave the game in the bottom of the inning -- and advanced to third base on a double by Kevin Youkilis. David Ortiz then walked, loading the bases, and Mike Lowell drove in the only Boston run with a sacrifice fly to left.

In the bottom of the fifth, third-base coach Demarlo Hale sent home Ortiz, who had doubled, on a single to center by Lowell, but Ortiz was easily thrown out at the plate by Upton.

Boston's litany of failure in crucial at-bats touched virtually every hitter in the lineup:

-- In the first, Lowell flied out with Ortiz on first and two outs.

-- In the second, Lugo grounded out with runners on first and second and two outs.

-- In the third, after the run had scored, J.D. Drew popped out and Jason Varitek grounded out with runners on first and second.

-- In the fourth, with a runner on third and one out, Lugo grounded out and Alex Cora was robbed of a hit on a running catch by Carl Crawford in left-center.

-- In the fifth, after Ortiz was thrown out at the plate, Drew walked, putting runners on first and second, but Varitek struck out on three pitches.

-- In the sixth, with a runner on first and one out, Lugo struck out and Cora grounded out.

-- In the seventh, Lowell lined out with a runner on first and one out, and Varitek struck out with runners on first and second and two out.

-- In the eighth, with a runner on second and two outs, Cora struck out.

-- And finally, in the ninth, Varitek flied out with runners on first and second to end the game.

Posted by Art Martone  at 10:15 PM | Permalink