Tampa Bay (0-0) at Boston (0-0)

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tb

Rays have pennant in sights

Jason Beck / MLB.com
James Shields opened this American League Championship Series with a tough-luck loss despite a stingy performance. Given the Rays' offense lately, a repeat outing in Game 5 of the ALCS Series could earn his team a trip to the World Series.
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Rays probable pitcher

Scott Kazmir

  • #19 LHP
  • (0-0) 10.38 ERA 2 SO
Kazmir, moved up from Game 6 to Game 5 after the Rays won Game 4, could not make it out of the fifth inning in Game 2 during the Rays' 9-8 win. Kazmir has struggled with his mechanics and seems to experience his biggest problems in the first inning; he threw 38 pitches in the first inning. The young left-hander continues to try and gain command of his slider and his velocity has been down. Lacking his normal ability to bury his slider, Kazmir has relied primarily on a fastball-changeup combination this season.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 47-37 3.61 723.0 332 783 .242
Season 12-8 3.49 152.1 70 166 .220
Vs. Boston 0-2 9.00 18.0 14 14 .324

Series at a Glance

Standings - 10/16/2008 W L PCT GB Home Away
Tampa Bay Rays (AL East) 97 65 .599 - 57-24 40-41
Boston Red Sox (AL East) 95 67 .586 2.0 56-25 39-42
Stats - 10/16/2008 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
TB .260 774 180 735 142 1224 3.82 1457.2 1349 526 1143
BOS .280 845 173 807 120 1068 4.01 1446.1 1369 548 1185
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Dice-K looks to extend ALCS

Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
The Red Sox have grown accustomed to Daisuke Matsuzaka's high-wire acts, even marveling at his ability to walk the tightrope under dangerous circumstances.
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Red Sox probable pitcher

Daisuke Matsuzaka

  • #18 RHP
  • (1-0) 0.00 ERA 9 SO
The right-hander opened this American League Championship Series with what was easily the best of his six career postseason starts. Dice-K went seven innings -- plus two batters in the eighth -- and allowed four hits and no runs. He walked four, but struck out nine. He is 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA lifetime in the postseason. Before his Game 1 gem, Matsuzaka had never pitched more than 5 1/3 innings in a postseason game. This is his first start of this postseason at Fenway Park. During the regular season, Matsuzaka was 9-3 with a 3.34 ERA at Fenway. He will make this start on five days of rest.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 33-15 3.72 372.1 174 355 .230
Season 18-3 2.90 167.2 94 154 .211
Vs. Tampa Bay 1-0 3.00 15.0 11 17 .228

Rays hitters vs Daisuke Matsuzaka
Regular Season stats only

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Aybar, Willy .333 3 0 1 .333 3 0 1
Bartlett, Jason .143 7 0 1 .091 11 0 1
Brignac, Reid - - - - - - - -
Burrell, Pat - - - - - - - -
Crawford, Carl .500 2 0 0 .273 11 0 0
Gross, Gabe .500 4 0 0 .500 4 0 0
Jaso, John - - - - - - - -
Jennings, Desmond - - - - - - - -
Johnson, Elliot - - - - - - - -
Joyce, Matt .000 2 0 0 .000 2 0 0
Kapler, Gabe - - - - - - - -
Lobaton, Jose - - - - - - - -
Longoria, Evan .500 2 0 1 .500 2 0 1
Navarro, Dioner .143 7 0 0 .167 18 1 2
Pena, Carlos .400 5 0 0 .313 16 1 4
Perez, Fernando .500 2 0 0 .500 2 0 0
Riggans, Shawn - - - - - - - -
Rodriguez, Sean - - - - - - - -
Ruggiano, Justin - - - - - - - -
Upton, B.J. .000 2 0 0 .077 13 1 2
Zobrist, Ben .000 3 0 0 .000 6 0 0

Red Sox hitters vs Scott Kazmir
Regular Season stats only

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Anderson, Brian .000 3 0 0 .000 6 0 0
Bates, Aaron - - - - - - - -
Brown, Dusty - - - - - - - -
Drew, J.D. .250 4 0 1 .143 7 0 1
Ellsbury, Jacoby .250 8 0 0 .286 14 0 0
Hermida, Jeremy - - - - .333 3 0 0
Iglesias, Jose - - - - - - - -
Kotchman, Casey .400 5 0 0 .400 5 0 0
Lowell, Mike .333 9 2 2 .265 34 4 7
Lowrie, Jed .000 2 0 0 .000 2 0 0
Martinez, Victor - - - - .375 8 0 0
Ortiz, David .500 2 1 3 .205 39 2 8
Pedroia, Dustin .556 9 1 2 .560 25 1 3
Reddick, Josh - - - - - - - -
Varitek, Jason .286 7 1 2 .214 28 1 4
Wagner, Mark - - - - - - - -
Youkilis, Kevin .222 9 0 2 .200 35 0 2

Boston pops! (3-2) (2-3)

Red Sox 8, Rays 7

Rays falter at finish

Bill Chastain / MLB.com
After cruising to a seven-run lead and setting an ALCS record with 13 homers, the wheels came off the Rays' wagon late as they fell short of securing their first World Series berth. B.J. Upton's four RBIs couldn't mask Tampa Bay's sting of defeat.

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Series at a Glance

 

Sox suddenly surging

Ian Browne / MLB.com
The Red Sox can never be counted out in October, as they staged a comeback for the ages from 7-0 down in the seventh. David Ortiz hit his first homer of the playoffs, and J.D. Drew came up huge with a two-run homer and a walk-off RBI single.
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Red Sox 8, Rays 7

Tampa BayABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Iwamura, 2B3210201.238
Upton, CF4234111.400
Pena, C, 1B4122112.368
Longoria, 3B4111014.286
Crawford, LF4000003.409
Floyd, DH2000010.250
  a-Aybar, W, PH-DH2000010.429
Navarro, C4000000.150
Gross, RF3000110.000
Bartlett, SS3110101.211
Totals337876612 

a-Popped out for Floyd in the 6th.

BATTING
2B: Upton (1, Papelbon).
HR: Upton (3, 1st inning off Matsuzaka, 1 on, 0 out), Pena, C (3, 3rd inning off Matsuzaka, 1 on, 1 out), Longoria (4, 3rd inning off Matsuzaka, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Iwamura; Upton 7; Pena, C 5; Longoria 4; Bartlett.
RBI: Upton 4 (10), Pena, C 2 (6), Longoria (7).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bartlett; Crawford 2.
GIDP: Longoria; Pena, C.
Team LOB: 5.

BASERUNNING
SB: Iwamura 2 (2, 2nd base off Papelbon/Varitek, 3rd base off Okajima/Varitek), Gross (1, 2nd base off Matsuzaka/Varitek), Bartlett (1, 3rd base off Papelbon/Varitek).

FIELDING
E: Longoria (3, throw).
Outfield assists: Gross (Crisp at 2nd base).
 
BostonABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Crisp, CF4121112.417
Pedroia, 2B5111001.400
Ortiz, DH5113021.105
Youkilis, 3B4120110.409
Bay, LF3100223.333
Drew, RF4123100.235
Lowrie, SS4110001.143
Varitek, C2000012.000
  a-Casey, PH1000010.000
  Cash, C0000000.333
Kotsay, 1B4120012.286
Totals3681185912 

a-Struck out for Varitek in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Lowrie (1, Balfour), Kotsay (3, Wheeler).
HR: Ortiz (1, 7th inning off Balfour, 2 on, 2 out), Drew (1, 8th inning off Wheeler, 1 on, 0 out).
TB: Crisp 2; Pedroia; Ortiz 4; Youkilis 2; Drew 5; Lowrie 2; Kotsay 3.
RBI: Pedroia (4), Ortiz 3 (3), Drew 3 (3), Crisp (1).
2-out RBI: Pedroia; Ortiz 3; Crisp; Drew.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bay; Crisp; Kotsay.
Team LOB: 8.

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Lowrie-Pedroia-Kotsay, Pedroia-Lowrie-Kotsay).
 
Tampa BayIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Kazmir 6.02003704.35
Balfour 0.244400122.50
Wheeler (BS, 2)1.13331115.79
Howell (L, 0-1)0.22111104.50
 
BostonIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Matsuzaka 4.05552234.09
Okajima 2.01000200.00
Delcarmen 0.002220031.50
Papelbon 2.01001200.00
Masterson (W, 1-0)1.01001001.93

Matsuzaka pitched to 1 batter in the 5th.
Delcarmen pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

WP: Kazmir.
IBB: Bay (by Howell), Pena, C (by Papelbon).
HBP: Varitek (by Kazmir).
Pitches-strikes: Kazmir 111-62, Balfour 25-15, Wheeler 33-19, Howell 25-14, Matsuzaka 82-53, Okajima 28-17, Delcarmen 17-9, Papelbon 38-23, Masterson 15-7.
Groundouts-flyouts: Kazmir 7-4, Balfour 0-2, Wheeler 0-2, Howell 1-0, Matsuzaka 3-7, Okajima 2-2, Delcarmen 0-0, Papelbon 3-1, Masterson 2-1.
Batters faced: Kazmir 24, Balfour 6, Wheeler 7, Howell 5, Matsuzaka 19, Okajima 7, Delcarmen 2, Papelbon 7, Masterson 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Okajima 1-0, Papelbon 2-2.
Umpires: HP: Alfonso Marquez. 1B: Derryl Cousins. 2B: Tim McClelland. 3B: Sam Holbrook. LF: Brian O'Nora. RF: Brian Gorman.
Weather: 66 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 15 mph, L to R.
T: 4:08.
Att: 38,437.
October 16, 2008

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner