Davis solid in four innings against the Red Sox

Posted Mar 16, 2010 by Roger Mooney

Updated Mar 16, 2010 at 07:25 PM

By ROGER MOONEY

PORT CHARLOTTE Manager Joe Maddon said a few days ago that pitcher Wade Davis hadn’t had that one outstanding outing of the spring.

Well, Davis came close Tuesday night with four shutout innings against the Red Sox in front of an overflow crowd at Charlotte Sports Park.

With Rays owner Stuart Sternberg in attendance, Davis struck out the side in the first inning and turned in his first scoreless outing of the month.

After allowing five runs in two innings against the Pirates in Bradenton during his previous start, Davis allowed the Red Sox three hits, walked one and finished with five strikeouts.

Davis turned a 3-0 lead over to Dan Wheeler thanks to a three-run fourth.

The scoring started with a two-out double into the right field corner by Ben Zobrist off Boof Bonser. Pat Burrell drew a walk and B.J. Upton singled to load the bases.

Dioner Navarro forced home Zobrist when he was struck by a pitch. Gabe Kapler made it 3-0 with a two-run single.