Red Sox crush wild card-leading Rays
Baseball Betting Lines
09/06/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Ryan Kalish belted his second grand slam and David Ortiz also went deep, as the Red Sox blasted Tampa Bay, 12-5, in the opener of a big three-game set at Fenway Park.
With this being the final series for Boston against the Rays, it's imperative that the Red Sox sweep to continue hopes for a postseason spot. Monday's win moved Boston within 6 1/2 games of the Rays for the wild card lead. Chicago is six back.
Jon Lester (16-8) struck out exactly 10 batters for a third straight game, all victories. The lefty limited the Rays to four hits and two runs over six innings.
Ortiz and Adrian Beltre hit back-to-back homers in the first inning for Boston, which was swept at home by the White Sox in a three-game series over the weekend. Victor Martinez added a two-run single in the second.
The Rays lost their third in a row and remained 2 1/2 games behind the first- place New York Yankees in the AL East.
Jeff Niemann (10-6) was pounded for a third straight start. This time the right-hander surrendered four hits and six runs over 1 2/3 frames. He's given up 19 hits and 23 runs over his last three outings for an ERA of 20.70 in that span.
Andy Sonnanstine, called up from Single-A Hudson Valley earlier Monday, gave up five runs on five hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings for the Rays.
Carl Crawford singled in a run in the top of the first, but Martinez walked ahead of Ortiz's 28th homer of the season, a two-out shot just inside the pole in right field. Beltre then homered to left.
After Martinez singled in a pair the following inning, Ortiz doubled off Sonnanstine to drive in J.D. Drew for a 6-1 margin.
Sean Rodriguez singled in a run in the away third, but Kalish's slam to right capped a big five-run fourth. The other run came in when Sonnanstine walked Jed Lowrie with the bases loaded.
Tampa Bay scored three times in the seventh, all on bases-loaded walks, but Scott Atchison got out of the inning by retiring pinch-hitter Reid Brignac on a pop foul to first and then getting Rocco Baldelli to fly out to left.
Yamaico Navarro's sacrifice fly in the bottom half accounted for the final margin.
Game Notes
Lester moved to 9-3 lifetime against Tampa Bay...Beltre has 999 career RBI and 901 runs scored...Tampa Bay leads the season series, 10-6...Before the game, the Red Sox activated veteran catcher Jason Varitek from the 15-day disabled list. He had been on the DL since July 1 with a right foot fracture. The Red Sox also selected the contract of first baseman Lars Anderson and recalled outfielder Josh Reddick from Triple-A Pawtucket..Kalish also hit a slam in a 6-0 win over the Angels on August 17...This was the shortest non-injury related start of Niemann's career.
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Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.