BOSTON – The game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox was suspended because of rain with the score tied 1-1 after 8½ innings on Friday night.
It was scheduled to resume before tonight’s scheduled game from the point it was suspended.
Additional Photos
The Rays scored in the third inning on Ben Zobrist’s RBI single, and the Red Sox tied it in the fifth on Jason Varitek’s third homer of the season.
With heavy rain falling and two outs in the top of the ninth, Carlos Pena walked against Jonathan Papelbon and stole second. But B.J. Upton struck out swinging. Then the grounds crew rolled the tarp onto the already soaked field.
Both starters pitched well despite a game-time temperature of 41 degrees. Boston’s Josh Beckett allowed an unearned run with four hits, one walk and eight strikeouts. Tampa Bay’s Wade Davis gave up one earned run on two hits with four strikeouts and four walks in five innings.
The Rays, off to the best start in club history at 6-3, went ahead with the help of two misplays.
Beckett retired the first two batters in the third before Carl Crawford reached on an error by shortstop Marco Scutaro, who let a hard grounder get by him. Crawford then stole second, his 28th straight successful attempt against the Red Sox.
Zobrist followed with a chopper toward third baseman Adrian Beltre, who appeared to misjudge or lose the ball in the lights. The ball deflected off Beltre’s glove, Zobrist was credited with a single and Crawford scored.
Boston tied it when Varitek, playing only his second game while starting catcher Victor Martinez rested, hit an 0-1 pitch over the left-field wall.
Grant Balfour replaced Davis to start the sixth and immediately ran into trouble. Kevin Youki-lis walked before David Ortiz doubled down the right-field line. Youkilis was waved home by third-base coach Tim Bogar and was thrown out on a relay to catcher Dioner Navarro.
Ortiz did reach third on a groundout by Beltre but was stranded when Jeremy Hermida struck out. Ortiz entered the game 4 for 26 with 13 strikeouts and fanned in his first two at-bats before his double.
The Rays wasted an opportunity in the fifth. Reid Brignac doubled and Navarro struck out. Jason Bartlett then lined out to Scutaro, who threw to second baseman Dustin Pedroia to double Brignac off second.
NOTES: Hermida started in left field for Jacoby Ellsbury, who missed his fourth straight game with bruised ribs. Bill Hall played center field for the second consecutive day in place of Mike Cameron, who passed a kidney stone Friday morning. … All the Rays players wore uniforms with the No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. Tampa Bay was off Thursday, when the teams who played wore Robinson’s number to mark the 63rd anniversary of the day he broke the major league color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.