Rays @ BoSox: Looking for the series win

Posted Sep 8, 2010 by Roger Mooney

Updated Sep 8, 2010 at 05:20 PM

This is the parking garage across the street from the Green Monster that Evan Longoria reached Tuesday night with a loooooong home run

ROGER MOONEY
BOSTON—A groan went through the visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park this afternoon as the Rays watched Nick Swisher hit his walk-off homer in the Bronx to give the Yankees the win against the Orioles.

The Rays focus quickly returned to tonight’s game, when Matt Garza will try to give the Rays another series victory against the Red Sox and keep his team 1.5 games behind the first place Yankees.

The Red Sox are throwing knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. After Tuesday’s beating, manager Terry Francona decided it wasn’t worth risking Clay Buchholz’s arm by having him pitch on three days rest for the first time in his career in hopes of keeping the Sox slim postseason hopes alive.

Most sports fans in this city have already turned their attention to the Patriots and the mega contract that quarterback Tom Brady might or might not have received.

It’s still baseball season in Tampa Bay, and it looks like it will be for a while.

Here are the lineups:

RAYS
Jaso C
Zobrist 2B
Crawford LF
Longoria 3B
Pena 1B
Joyce RF
Hawpe DH
Upton CF
Bartlett SS
—
Garza (14-7, 3.46)

RED SOX
Scutaro SS
Drew RF
Martinez C
Ortiz DH
Beltre 3B
Kalish CF
Reddick LF
Hall 2B
Anderson 1B
—
Wakefield (3-10, 5.19)