Red Sox, Rays ready for rubber match at Fenway

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Wakefield gets the call on short notice this evening when the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays play the rubber match of their three-game series at Fenway Park.

After getting blown out in the opener of this set on Monday, the Rays returned the favor on Tuesday, as Ben Zobrist, Jason Bartlett and Evan Longoria each homered and finished with three RBI, helping Tampa Bay to a 14-5 rout.

The Red Sox scored twice in the first inning only to see the Rays counter with 14 unanswered runs.

"The way it started out it didn't look really wonderful, but we righted ourselves," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Zo's home run really re-shifted momentum."

Carl Crawford went 4-for-4 with three doubles and drove in two runs for the Rays, who moved within 1 1/2 games of the American League East-leading Yankees. New York lost at home to Baltimore, 6-2, on Tuesday.

Dan Johnson and B.J. Upton also went deep for Tampa Bay, which also picked up its franchise-record 41st road win one night after getting blasted by the Red Sox, 12-5.

David Price (17-6) expanded his club record for victories in a single season as he allowed just two hits and a pair of runs over six innings.

Victor Martinez had a two-run double in the first inning for the Red Sox, who lost for the fourth time in five tries and fell 7 1/2 games behind the wild card-leading Rays.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-5) was touched for eight hits and eight runs over 4 2/3 innings and fell to 2-6 lifetime against Tampa Bay.

"Lack of command caught up with him and kind of caught up in a hurry," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of his starting pitcher.

Clay Buchholz was scheduled to start tonight's tilt on three days' rest had the Red Sox earned a shot at a sweep, but with last night's loss, Francona decided to scratch him, instead opting for the veteran knuckleballer Wakefield.

Wakefield will be making his first start since Aug. 25, when he allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings of a 4-2 loss to Seattle. He is just 3-10 on the year with a 5.19 ERA and hasn't pitched in a Red Sox win since July 2.

The 44-year-old right-hander is 20-6 lifetime against the Rays with a 3.60 ERA in 43 games, 33 of which have been starts. However he lost to them the last time he faced them, allowing six runs in 5 2/3 innings back on July 7.

Tampa, meanwhile, will counter with righty Matt Garza, who is 3-0 in his last four starts and has a 1.32 ERA in six outings since the start of August. Tonight's outing will also be his seventh (six starts) against the Red Sox this season. He is 2-1 with a save and a 4.11 ERA against on the year.

Garza exchanged words with Maddon on Friday when he was taken out against Baltimore with two outs in the sixth. Garza earned the win that night, surrendering a run and five hits with three walks.

"I love the fact that our pitchers don't want to come out of the game, and he's kind of trained himself to pitch farther," Maddon said. "However, it was very hot (Friday) and humid, and I want to try and keep people fresh for the rest of the year."

Tampa is 11-6 against the Red Sox this season.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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