RAYS' 9TH INNING RALLY SINKS RED SOX
BoSox Slip Into Tie With Yanks
ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 26 (AP) - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays rallied for two runs in
the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1, at Tropicana
Field. The Boston loss, coupled with the New York Yankees' doubleheader
sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, created a tie atop the American League East with
just two days left in the regular season. Both the Red Sox and Yankees
have secured playoff spots; the loser in the battle for divisional supremacy
will hold the AL wildcard spot. But seeding is important; the winner will
host the AL Central champion--either the Chicago White Sox or the Minnesota
Twins--while the wildcard representative has to travel to Oakland to face the
Athletics in the divisional series. The A's have already clinched the best
record in the American League.
The game was a scoreless battle until the top of the sixth when Gabe Kapler hit
a solo home run off Tampa Bay starter Jeremi Gonzalez. The home run was
the only mistake Gonzalez made en route to his second complete game of the
season; he held the Red Sox to a mere three hits and, after Kapler's blast,
never allowed a runner past first base for the duration of the game.
Boston starter Pedro Martinez shut the Rays out through six innings, but was in
and out of trouble. He was pulled after six frames, but relievers Scott
Williamson and Mike Timlin kept Tampa Bay off the scoreboard through eight.
In the bottom of the ninth, Byung-Hyun Kim, was brought on my Boston manager
Grady Little to close out the game. Kim faced Travis Lee to open the
inning, fell behind 1-0, and then grooved a fastball. Lee deposited the
pitch roughly halfway up the right field grandstand for his 19th home run of the
season, tying the game. Kim struck out pinch hitter Pete LaForest, but
yielded a single to right to Marlon Anderson, who promptly stole second
base. Javier Valentin came on to pinch hit for Toby Hall and Kim hit him
with a 2-2 pitch, putting runners at first and second. Antonio Perez
followed by lining a single to left field. Anderson raced around third and
cleanly beat the throw to the plate from left fielder Dave McCarty to complete
the comeback victory.
The Red Sox and Yankees both have two games remaining; should the teams finish
in a tie for first place, New York would be awarded the division championship on
the strength of an 11-8 head-to-head regular season record with Boston.
9/26/2003, Bos03-TB03, Tropicana Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Red Sox 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 3 1 2003 Devil Rays 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 10 1 9 1 Red Sox AB R H BI AVG Devil Rays AB R H BI AVG Brown,A cf 4 0 1 0 .200 Crawford lf 4 0 2 0 .252 Walker,T 2b 4 0 0 0 .248 Lugo ss 4 0 1 0 .258 Garciaparra ss 3 0 0 0 .298 Huff dh 3 0 0 0 .334 Ramirez,M dh 3 0 0 0 .314 Baldelli cf 4 0 0 0 .278 Varitek c 3 0 1 0 .255 Lee,T 1b 4 1 2 1 .280 McCarty lf 3 0 0 0 .245 Rolls rf 3 0 1 0 .276 Abad 1b 3 0 0 0 .125 LaForest ph 1 0 0 0 .267 Merloni 3b 3 0 0 0 .257 Anderson,Mar 2b 4 1 2 0 .263 Kapler rf 2 1 1 1 .311 Hall,T c 2 0 1 0 .251 Ortiz,D ph 1 0 0 0 .268 Valentin,Ja ph 0 0 0 0 .215 Millar rf 0 0 0 0 .293 Sandberg 3b 2 0 0 0 .263 29 1 3 1 Martin,A ph 1 0 0 0 .262 Perez,A 3b 1 0 1 1 .240 33 2 10 2 Red Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Martinez,P 6.0 6 0 0 1 8 86 53 2.38 Williamson H 8 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 8 5 2.83 Timlin H 19 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 13 10 3.42 Kim,B BS 6, L 4-6 0.1 3 2 2 0 1 18 12 3.32 8.1 10 2 2 1 10 125 80 Devil Rays INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Gonzalez,Je W 14-7 9.0 3 1 1 2 4 107 66 3.90 9.0 3 1 1 2 4 107 66 Bos: Ortiz,D batted for Kapler in the 8th Millar inserted at rf in the 8th TB : Martin,A batted for Sandberg in the 7th Perez,A inserted at 3b in the 8th LaForest batted for Rolls in the 9th Valentin,Ja batted for Hall,T in the 9th E-Anderson,Mar. 2B-Varitek(26). HR-Kapler(5), Lee,T(19). RBI-Kapler(26), Lee,T(112), Perez,A(13). SB-Crawford 2(54), Anderson,Mar(20). CS-Brown,A, Lee,T. K-Brown,A 2, McCarty, Merloni, Lugo 3, Huff, Baldelli, Lee,T, Rolls, Sandberg 2, LaForest. BB-Garciaparra, Ramirez,M, Huff. HBP-Hall,T, Valentin,Ja. HB-Martinez,P, Kim,B. GWRBI: Perez,A Temperature: 70, Wind: none. Attendance: 20,182 Game Time: 2:20