THE RAYS and A ONE WAY
TICKET TO "MANNY-WOOD" ...
Dice-K in control with a gem

July 7, 2008 ... Manny Ramirez slapped a single to right field in the eighth inning tonight, accounting for the run in a 1-0 win by the Red Sox over the Twins before 37,912 at Fenway Park.

Ramirez, who was 1 for 3 as the designated hitter entering the at-bat, came up with Dustin Pedroia at third base after Pedroia doubled high atop the left field wall down the line and moved to third on J.D. Drew's groundout to second. Ramirez went down, 0-and-2, against reliever Brian Bass, before evening the count at 2-and-2. As he often does, Ramirez went with the next pitch and sent it through a drawn-in infield between first and second base, driving in Pedroia.

Daisuke Matsuzaka, who did not receive the decision, pitched a beauty for 7 1/3 innings and Hideki Okajima pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the eighth, leaving the ninth to Jonathan Papelbon, who earned his 26th save.

Matsuzaka was on his game, allowing no runs on six hits with five strikeouts, and was surprisingly economical with his pitches, walking only three. In his longest outing of the season, he cranked one fastball up to 95 miles per hour, and he was consistently at 93-94. He left to a standing ovation after 109 pitches and handed the ball to Okajima with two on in the eighth.

Okajima hadn't done so well with inherited runners, allowing 15 of 18 to score. Things didn't start so well when he immediately walked Justin Morneau on a 3-and-2 pitch to load the bases. He then went 3-and-2 to pinch hitter Craig Monroe, but he fouled to first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who made an over-the-shoulder grab for the second out. Okajima then got Delmon Young to ground into a fielder's choice to second base, keeping the game scoreless.

The lack of control that had recently derailed many of Matsuzaka's starts seemed to be cured, at least this night. In the first inning there was a bit of trouble, as he loaded the bases on a pair of walks and an infield hit, but he retired Young on a tapper back to the mound.

After that, however, you'd be hard-pressed to pick apart anything Matsuzaka did. His statistics weren't quite good enough to make this year's All-Star team, and his penchant for walking batters and the two weeks he spent on the disabled list with a strain of the rotator cuff certainly didn't help his chances of breaking into that select group.

He retired the side in the second and third, the third ending on a nice diving play in the hole by shortstop Julio Lugo on a ball hit by Joe Mauer. That's right, we don't write it often enough, but Lugo made a nice play to end the inning.

Matsuzaka spotted the Twins a Jason Kubel single with one out in the fourth but worked his way out of it. He walked No. 9 hitter Denard Spann in the fifth, but then threw a nifty 6-4-3 double-play ball to the speedy Carlos Gomez. With two outs in the sixth, Morneau doubled off the left-center-field wall, but Matsuzaka got Kubel to fly to right field.

During the 18-3 streak the Twins entered last night's game in, their pitchers had recorded 17 quality starts and were 15-1 with a 3.15 ERA, walking 24 and striking out 101 in 137 innings. Over that span opponents were batting only .232, while the Twins were supporting their staff with a .308 average (.356 with runners in scoring position), while outscoring foes, 132-61. Scott Baker lasted seven innings, allowing no runs and five hits, with two walks and seven strikeouts.

The Sox' first baserunner was Mike Lowell, who reached on a one-out walk in the second inning. Jacoby Ellsbury reached on a two-out single in the third. But it was the fourth inning that was fraught with frustration. In that frame, Drew and Ramirez reached on singles, and after a strikeout by Lowell, Youkilis walked to load the bases. At this moment the Sox had a chance to tip the scales in their favor, but unfortunately for Boston, two of its coldest hitters were up. Coco Crisp, who entered the at-bat on an 0-for-11 skid, popped to third, and Jason Varitek continued his horrifying season with a fly to center field, after which he incurred some boos. Wasted, too, was a two-out double by Lowell, high atop the left-center-field wall in the sixth.

The Twins looked as if they were going to piece together a rally in the seventh when Young was hit with a Matsuzaka pitch, but before you could say Brian Buscher, the Twins' third baseman lined into a double play. Youkilis caught Buscher's liner and tagged out Young who was off the bag. The next batter, Nick Punto, shot a long fly to right. Drew appeared to be feeling for the wall behind him and allowed the ball to get behind him for a triple.

But here again, Matsuzaka got tough, getting Span to line to third for the final out.