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THE RAYS and A ONE WAY July 8, 2008 ... The game was shaping up as a pitching-dominated Minnesota victory, but Manny Ramirez's two-run homer in the eighth tied the game and Brandon Moss's two-out single drove in Kevin Youkilis with the go-ahead run to cap a four-run inning and produce the Red Sox' second one-run victory in as many nights, 6-5, before 37,925. Moss, who tied the season opener March 25 against the Oakland A's in Japan with a ninth-inning homer off Huston Street, got a rare start in left field and he didn't disappoint. This was basically two games in one, one dominated by Twins pitching, particularly starter Nick Blackburn, and the other marked by Boston's late-surging offense. With the Sox trailing, 5-2 entering the eighth, Jacoby Ellsbury doubled off Dennys Reyes. In came Matt Guerrier, and Dustin Pedroia singled to shallow right-center to move Ellsbury to third. J.D. Drew grounded to second to produce the Sox' third run, then up came Ramirez, who had been 0 for 3 with a strikeout. But he came through in a big way, just as he did the night before in the eighth inning, driving in the game's only run. And sometimes you need to continue an inning after a big home run. Thank Youkilis for that. He stroked a double into the gap in left-center, then got to third on a wild pitch. Moss then delivered his winning single to center. Jonathan Papelbon came on to record his 27th save in the ninth in nail-biting fashion. Nick Punto doubled to center on a ball Coco Crisp dived for and went behind him. After a sacrifice by Denard Span advanced Punto to third, Papelbon struck out pinch hitter Jason Kubel on a 97-mile-per-hour fastball, passing on the splitter that sometimes gets him in trouble. He then got Alexi Casilla to ground to second to end the game. The Twins, who have 19 quality starts in 23 games since June 13, didn't give the Sox much over the first six innings. Blackburn effectively worked both sides of the plate, keeping the Sox pounding the ball into the ground. Jon Lester went 7 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits and five runs. He was cruising until Justin Morneau singled to center with one out in the fourth. The lefthander, making his 20th start, induced a force from Craig Monroe for the second out, but suddenly, he began to get his pitches up and the Twins were relentless. A single to right by Delmon Young was followed by a triple into the right-field corner by Brendan Harris, scoring a pair. Punto followed with a single to center that made it 3-1. The Twins added a run in the seventh as Lester began inching closer to 100 pitches. He allowed a leadoff double to Harris, and No. 9 hitter Span knocked in the fourth Minnesota run with a single. The Sox scored on Drew's RBI double in the first after Ellsbury singled, but then Blackburn settled in. He retired the Sox in order in the second, third, and fourth innings; Youkilis's single to lead off the fifth ended his string at 11 straight outs. Pedroia extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a sixth-inning single, but other than that, Blackburn was in control. In the bottom of the seventh, Youkilis hit a fly ball atop the left-center wall. The ball seemed to take an eternity to bounce off and equally long for center fielder Carlos Gomez to retrieve it. By that time, Youkilis was racing into third base. With one out, Moss fell behind, 0 and 2, against Blackburn, but then sent a sacrifice fly to left-center to make it a two-run game. By the eighth it was evident Lester had begun to tire. He surrendered singles to Joe Mauer and Morneau. After he struck out Monroe, Francona yanked him following his 117th pitch. David Aardsma came on, but Young drilled a single to right to make it 5-2. But the game was about to change in a big way. Thanks to Ramirez. |
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