Cinch
| Game 118: August 13, 2007 | |||
| Devil Rays | 0 | L: James Shields (9-8) | 45-73, 2 game losing streak 10-23-5 series record |
 Red Sox |
3 | W: Tim Wakefield (14-10) S: Jonathan Papelbon (28) |
71-47, 1 game winning streak 24-11-4 series record |
| Highlights: The last time the Red Sox were part of a shutout was July 25; they were on the receiving end against the Indians. This way is better. | |||
David Mellor’s elaborate “B” in center field boded well for a team in need of the home field advantage. Fittingly the current Red Sox player the longest tenure, Tim Wakefield, was the lynch pin for a win in a series opener.
Wakefield knuckleball eluded the aimless bats of the young Devil Rays; six times they were dismissed from the box. Only Carl Crawford and Jonny Gomes managed to drop balls for hits across eight innings of work, and just three other visitors managed to reach base.
The Tampa Bay players may have been a bit peaked from their 5 AM arrival and abrupt awakening at 8 AM because of a fire alarm in their hotel room. (Thanks, helpful hotel workers who shall remain anonymous.)
Julio Lugo led off the game with a sharp line drive that ricocheted off James Shields’s arm and dribbled past Carlos Peña. Shields was slightly shaken but remained in the game for six innings.
David Ortiz drove in Lugo (who was just safe at home) with a fly ball to the deepest part of center field. To prove his strength, Ortiz pumped a few push-ups in the sixth after being knocked down by James Shields’s errant throw towards the knees.
Lugo had an RBI of his own in the seventh. His ground ball up the middle was so perfectly positioned that Doug Mirabelli managed to score from from second. Terry Francona was sure to compliment the backup backstop for taking the secondary lead that enabled the run to score. A good secondary lead for Mirabelli to have a stress-free traverse of home plate is standing two-thirds of the way to home from third base.
The consistent Mike Lowell continued to defy the naysayers who predicted a downturn after the All-Star break. He laced a one-out single into center to plate Manny Ramirez in the eighth.
Jonathan Papelbon provided the punctuation mark to yet another satisfying chapter in Wakefield’s dominance of Tampa Bay with a two-strikeout save.
The players don’t panic; why should we?
