Boston Red Sox overcome Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 at Tropicana Field – MLB Update
Boston Red Sox overcame the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg in Florida on Friday, July 13 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
David Ortiz played a key role in deciding the outcome of the clash as his home-run lifted the Red Sox to a much needed victory. The designated hitter homered for the 23rd time this season to improve his average to .313.
"He showed everybody what he could do in spring training," the All-Star slugger said. "Having him here and doing what he's doing, I'm not surprised."
It will not be wrong to say that Ortiz is having one of the finest seasons of his career. His average for this season is also considerably higher than his career average and it will be interesting to see if he can continue this impressive hitting form to
help the Red Sox grab one of the wild card spots.
Pedro Ciriaco, who ended the first half on a high, started from where he left off as he singled to centre and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia scored to put the Red Sox 3-0 ahead.
"He blooped a couple more in there, made a good bunt, stole a base," Valentine said. “He's playing a very high caliber baseball."
Sean Rodriguez doubled to left in the sixth to keep Rays’ hopes alive but the Red Sox held on to their slim lead to take deserving 1-0 lead in the series.
Starting pitcher Franklin Morales pitched five effective innings, giving up just two hits with five strike-outs to give his team complete control of the situation.
"It was nine innings of really good pitching," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "Franklin Morales gave us five really strong innings. Put up the zeroes."
Relief pitcher Alfredo Aceves pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save of the season. Right now, the Red Sox are just two games behind the second placed Baltimore Orioles. It will be interesting to see if they can sweep the Rays to narrow down
the gap between themselves and American League East leaders New York Yankees.
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