Burrell Helps Rays Beat Red Sox Twice on Saturday

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox ⋅ April 18, 2010 at 1:38am ⋅ Post a comment

Pat Burrell (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Yikes, what an ugly weekend it has been for baseball. While the Bruins and Celtics won their games indoors on Saturday, the Red Sox managed to lose two games outdoors in the rain at Fenway Park.

In the first “game,” play resumed in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied 1-1. The struggling David Ortiz nearly ended the game with a blast that went foul in left field to lead off the ninth. The game remained tied when the Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 11th. Ortiz grounded into a fielder’s choice (with the out recorded at home plate), and Adrian Beltre grounded into a double play (third to first) to end the inning and the threat.

Pat Burrell slammed a two-run HR in the top of the 12th off Manny Delcarmen to give the Rays the 3-1 lead and win in Game 1. Later in the night, Burrell was the hero again, hitting a three-run double in the first inning after Mike Cameron’s ugly error to give the Rays a 4-0 lead. Tampa Bay never looked back, and survived a late scare to beat the Sox 6-5 in the second game.

Daniel Bard pitched two hitless innings in “relief” of Jonathan Papelbon, who was unavailable for the day after the birth of his son earlier on Saturday (welcome to Gunner Robert Papelbon!). Papelbon had closed out the top of the ninth on Friday night by striking out B.J. Upton.

Sox Stud of the Games: Dustin Pedroia

Pedroia finished with two more hits and a home run on Saturday night to raise his season batting average to .378. He now leads the Red Sox with five HRs and 12 RBI through 11 games.

Sox Dud(s) of the Games: Tim Bogar and Mike Cameron

Had third base coach Tim Bogar not made the stupid to decision to send Kevin Youkilis around third base on a David Ortiz double with no outs, the Red Sox would have had men on second and third with no outs instead of a man on second with one out. Bogar’s blunder may have cost the Sox a run (and subsequently the game).

Cameron, meanwhile, was the goat of Game 2. His ridiculous error (the ball was lined toward him, but hit the top of his glove instead) cost the Red Sox a precious out, and Pat Burrell made them pay with his bases-clearing double off Clay Buchholz (who pitched well after that shaky first inning).

That’s What He Said

“We had a great opportunity,” Boston manager Terry Francona said of Boston’s opportunity with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 1. “We couldn’t get a better opportunity.”

Game(s) Notes:

Game 1

W: Lance Cormier (2-0)
L: Manny Delcarmen (0-1)
S: Rafael Soriano (3)

Game 2

W: James Shields (1-0)
L: Clay Buchholz (1-1)
S: Rafael Soriano (4)

Clay Buchholz got through 5.0 innings with three hits, four walks, and four unearned runs allowed. He struck out seven hitters.
Shields, meanwhile, was pretty good before unraveling in the seventh. He finished his outing with nine hits allowed and four runs in 6.2 innings.
The Sox scored all of their runs in the second game on home runs: a solo shot from Marco Scutaro, a two-run shot from Dustin Pedroia, and a two-run HR from Kevin Youkilis.
Scott Atchison killed the Sox, allowing two runs over his two innings, including a critical home run to Evan Longoria in the seventh inning (before the Sox put together a rally of their own).
Mike Lowell played third base in the second game, going 2-4.
The defensive-minded Red Sox committed two more errors (Cameron’s first error and Scutaro’s third).
The two losses dropped the Sox to 4-7 overall and 1-4 at Fenway Park. Tampa improved to 8-3.
The Sox wore their alternate red uniforms in Game 1, and their white home uniforms in Game 2.