April 7, 2009 Rays 8, Red Sox 2 (Red Sox opener)

Not much to be happy about today in the Sox season opener. It was an omen right off the bat when Jacoby Ellsbury and his 70 steals for the season led off the 1st with a walk - and was caught stealing second!! Stealing bases is responsible for the first Rays run of the game when Gabe Gross singled, stole second and goes to third when Tek's throw goes over second base and scores on a groundout. The Sox though come back and take a 2-1 lead on Jason Bay's two run shot, and it was all Tampa from there. Josh Beckett is saddled with loss number one, while Jason Shields goes the distance for the Rays. Three players on the Rays had steals today who don't steal a whole lot of bases: Gross (6 on the real season), Akanori Iwamura (9) and catcher Dioner Navarro (5) while the 70 steal Ellsbury gets caught on the first try of the season. Now what are the odds of that!!

Strat-O-Matic Report

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BOXSCORE: 2009 Tampa Bay Rays At 2009 Boston Red Sox                 4/7/2009
 
  Rays               AB  R  H RBI AVG     Red Sox            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  A.Iwamura 2B        5  1  2  1 .400     J.Ellsbury CF       3  0  0  0 .000  
  C.Crawford LF       5  0  0  0 .000     D.Pedroia 2B        4  0  1  0 .250  
  E.Longoria 3B       4  2  1  3 .250     D.Ortiz DH          4  0  1  0 .250  
  C.Pena 1B           4  1  1  3 .250     K.Youkilis 1B       3  0  0  0 .000  
  P.Burrell DH        4  0  1  0 .250     J.Drew RF           4  1  1  0 .250  
  M.Joyce CF          4  0  1  0 .250     J.Bay LF            3  1  1  2 .333  
  D.Navarro C         3  1  0  0 .000     M.Lowell 3B         3  0  1  0 .333  
  G.Gross RF          3  2  2  0 .667     J.Lowrie SS         3  0  0  0 .000  
  J.Bartlett SS       2  1  0  1 .000     J.Varitek C         3  0  0  0 .000  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      34  8  8  8                 Totals      30  2  5  2
 
 
Rays............ 0 0 1  0 0 3  1 0 3  -  8  8  0
Red Sox......... 0 0 0  0 2 0  0 0 0  -  2  5  1
 
Rays (1-0)               IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
J.Shields WIN(1-0)        9       5   2   2   2   8   1 120   2.00  A1
Totals                    9       5   2   2   2   8   1
 
Red Sox (0-1)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
J.Beckett LOSS(0-1)       6 1/3   4   5   4   4   7   1 109   5.68  A1 C8
H.Okajima                 0 1/3   1   0   0   1   0   0  12   0.00  C9 D2
R.Ramirez                 1 1/3   1   0   0   0   0   0  14   0.00  D3 D7
T.Saito                   1       2   3   3   1   2   1  24  27.00  D8
Totals                    9       8   8   7   6   9   2
 
ATTENDANCE- 23,952 DATE- Tuesday, April 7th 2009 TIME- Day WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Tom Hallion, Phil Cuzzi, Angel Campos, Paul Nauert
T- 2:38
LEFT ON BASE- Rays: 5  Red Sox: 3
DOUBLE PLAYS- Rays: 1  Red Sox: 1
ERRORS- J.Varitek
DOUBLES- G.Gross(1st), D.Pedroia(1st), M.Lowell(1st)
HOME RUNS- E.Longoria(1st), C.Pena(1st), J.Bay(1st)
STOLEN BASES- A.Iwamura(1st), D.Navarro(1st), G.Gross(1st)
CAUGHT STEALING- J.Ellsbury
WALKS- E.Longoria, C.Pena, D.Navarro, G.Gross, J.Bartlett-2, J.Ellsbury,
       K.Youkilis
STRIKE OUTS- A.Iwamura-2, C.Pena-2, M.Joyce-2, D.Navarro-2, J.Bartlett, D.Ortiz,
             K.Youkilis, J.Bay, M.Lowell-2, J.Lowrie-2, J.Varitek
GIDP- P.Burrell, J.Drew
 
James Shields completed the game without help from the bullpen at Fenway Park
as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 8 to 2.
 
Boston never recovered after Tampa Bay took the lead in the top of the 6th
inning scoring 3 runners on 2 hits.  The crucial at-bat was provided by
Carlos Pena who deflated the crowd as he lofted a three-run 'big-fly'.  Tampa
Bay totaled 8 hits on the afternoon.  
 
Shields(1-0), allowing 2 runs for the game, picked up the victory. Josh
Beckett(0-1) was the losing pitcher.  He surrendered 5 runs and 4 hits in 6
and 1/3 innings.

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