Boston @ Tampa Bay preview
Tropicana Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 28, 2010 ) Boston 2, Tampa Bay 3
The Boston Red Sox can’t continue to squander great pitching performances if they hope to reach the American League playoffs.
The Red Sox got another stellar start Saturday but generated little offense in falling to the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in 10 innings.
The two teams wrap up a three-game series Sunday night at St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tampa Bay remains tied with the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East while the Red Sox have fallen 5 1/2 games behind with just 32 games remaining.
Boston gives John Lackey the start Sunday in what is practically a must-win. Lackey is 11-3 lifetime against Tampa Bay but was hammered by the Rays in his first start of the season.
The 6-6 right-hander has since beaten them twice, allowing a total of three runs over 13 innings. He held Tampa Bay to one run on eight his in seven innings when he last faced them on June 29.
Lackey also is coming off one of his better outings of the season, striking out a season-high 10 batters in Monday’s 6-3 win over Seattle.
James Shields starts for the Rays. He is 4-9 in 15 starts against Boston in his career with a 5.25 ERA.
In three starts this season vs. the Red Sox, Shields is 1-2, although his best performance came in a 2-0 home loss on May 25, when he yielded two runs on four hits in eight innings.
He has won his last two outings, including a 10-strikeout performance in a 4-3 victory at the Los Angles Angels on Monday.
Boston’s Clay Buchholz had another tremendous outing on Saturday. The rising star extended his streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to 30 2/3 before B.J. Upton cracked a home run to open the eighth inning.
Victor Martinez was once again the lone threat at the plate. He homered and scored both runs for Boston in Saturday’s game. Martinez homered twice to back Jon Lester in Friday’s win.
Rookie Dan Johnson blasted a walk-off homer in the 10th inning off Boston reliever Scott Atchison to win Saturday’s game.
Randy Choate (4-3) notched the win in relief with a scoreless 10th inning.
Matt Garza held the Red Sox in check for most of the night. Garza, who is 7-3 lifetime against Boston, went seven innings allowing six hits and one run while striking out three.
Boston activated Hideki Okajima before the game but manager Terry Francona quickly showed he still has little faith in the veteran reliever. Okajima has a 5.58 ERA and has allowed 49 hits and 15 walks in 32 1/3 innings on the season. Lefties are hitting .338 against him.
Okajima pitched in three rehab games for Triple-A Pawtucket and allowed four runs on six hits in just 2 1/3 innings. He didn't record a strikeout and three of the six hits were for extra bases.