The Boston Red Sox are having trouble getting Evan Longoria out with runners on base. At least they have some company.Longoria homered and drove in five runs to raise his major league-leading total to 44 RBIs, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a 14-5 win over the Red Sox on Saturday.
“I feel good,” said Longoria, last year’s AL Rookie of the Year. “My swing is right where I want it to be and the guys have been getting on a lot. That helps a lot. It seems like when I come to the plate somebody is in scoring position.”
Boston manager Terry Francona certainly has noticed Longoria’s success against his team.
“He’s killed us a few times, more than a few times,” he said.
Pat Burrell, Carlos Pena, Ben Zobrist and Akinori Iwamura each drove in two runs for Tampa Bay, which has won seven of 10. The Rays, who lost Friday night’s series opener 7-3, also have won six of nine against Boston this season.
Longoria’s homer off Jon Lester hit the top of the center-field wall and bounced over after Carl Crawford walked, making it 2-0 three batters into the game. It was his 11th of the season and fifth against the Red Sox.
“He’s just locked in,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said of his young star. “Every at-bat is a quality at-bat. He’s not throwing any away.”
Rocco Baldelli and Julio Lugo hit solo homers for Boston, which lost for just the fourth time in 16 games in Fenway Park this season. Three of those losses have come against the Rays, once seemingly unable to win in Boston.
Tampa Bay can win its seventh straight series—including last fall’s ALCS— against Boston on Sunday night when Matt Garza is scheduled to face Red Sox ace Josh Beckett in the finale. Garza is 2-0 with a 0.61 ERA in two starts against the Red Sox this year.
“We try to win every series. Every series is important,” said Baldelli, who helped Tampa Bay win the pennant last year. “That’s what you try to do, if you can win every series, you’re doing pretty well. I think we’ll come out ready to play like we always do.”
Scott Kazmir (4-3) gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings for Tampa Bay, off to a sluggish 15-17 start. He had allowed at least six runs in three of his previous four starts.
Lance Cormier pitched 3 2-3 scoreless innings for his first save.
Baldelli homered into the first row of the seats above the Green Monster to make it 2-1 in the second. It was his first in Fenway Park since he hit one over the Monster in Game 3 of last year’s ALCS against the Red Sox.
But the Rays chased Lester when they sent 11 batters to the plate in the fifth and scored six runs. Crawford had an RBI single, Longoria lined a two-run double high off the left-field wall and Burrell singled in a pair. Iwamura’s run-scoring fielder’s choice made it 8-1.
Lester (2-3) lost for just the second time in his last 19 regular-season home starts. His other loss also came against Kazmir and the Rays in the second game of the season.
“First inning Longoria does a good job,” Lester said. “Frustrating, but he put a good swing on it. After that I threw the ball pretty well. The fifth inning got out of hand a little bit.”
Jason Bay’s RBI single and Mike Lowell’s run-scoring double made it 8-3 in the fifth before the Rays batted around again in the sixth, scoring five more.
Xtra, xtra: Longoria has RBIs in 11 of his last 13 games, collecting 26 total. Four of Tampa Bay’s seven hits in the fifth were singles thru the shortstop hole, prompting many fans to jeer SS Julio Lugo, who caught an inning-ending popup before getting a Bronx cheer. Francona said before the game that 1B Kevin Youkilis, who missed his fifth straight game with tightness in his left side, likely will not play Sunday night with an off day Monday to add to his recovery time. Boston RF J.D. Drew was given the day off due to a tight quadriceps. Boston slugger David Ortiz, waiting on-deck, had to dive out of the way of Dustin Pedroia’s foul liner. Tampa Bay had been 0-21-4 in its previous 25 Fenway series before last September (Associated Press - Sports).
