Drew and Red Sox down Tampa in AL East battle

Baseball Betting Lines

06/04/2008 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.D. Drew hit a double and home run, and made several key defensive plays, as the Boston Red Sox opened a three-game set against Tampa Bay with a 7-4 win over the Rays.

The Red Sox officially placed slugger David Ortiz on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday, with an injured wrist, and there is no timetable for his return.

They also recalled Justin Masterson (2-0), who started Tuesday's game and picked up the win after throwing six solid innings, in which he gave up four runs on six hits and a pair of walks, and struck out five.

"He competed great. I thought he threw some sliders tonight that were better than we have seen, with some depth to them," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "He also left a couple up. I don't think the atmosphere has gotten out ahead of him or anything. He goes up and we expect him to give us a good ballgame, and he did that."

Mike Lowell hit a two-run homer, while Coco Crisp had a two-run double for Boston, which extended its home winning streak to 11 games.

Carlos Pena went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and three runs batted in for Tampa Bay, which had a three-game win streak broken but maintained its lead in the American League East. The front-running Rays lead Boston by one-half game, though have now lost six straight at Fenway Park.

"To win in this league, you have to win at this ballpark," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "They're difficult, they're very difficult. But we have to get it done here. At some point, we've just got to make that leap. We had a great opportunity tonight. We just kept giving up leads."

Matt Garza (4-2) struggled at the end of his outing, and finished by allowing seven runs -- five earned -- on six hits in 5 1/3 frames.

After the Rays took the lead in the top of the sixth, Boston roared back in the bottom half. Garza hit Kevin Youkilis to start and Manny Ramirez reached base on a fielding error by Jason Bartlett at short.

Lowell popped out, but Drew walked to load the bases. Jason Varitek got one run home by grounding a single up the middle. Crisp then delivered the big blow with a double to left that plated Ramirez and Drew, and chased Garza from the game.

Grant Balfour came on and immediately walked Julio Lugo to load the bases again, and a Jacoby Ellsbury sacrifice fly brought one more run in to push the Red Sox's lead to 7-4.

From there, Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez, Craig Hansen and Jonathan Papelbon kept the Rays scoreless, as Papelbon also picked up his 17th save of the season.

Akinori Iwamura started the game with a home run, an opposite field shot that just hit off the top of the Green Monster.

But after Ramirez led off the home second with a single, Lowell scorched a ball high over the left field wall to put Boston in front, 2-1.

The Rays kept the back-and-forth game going in the fourth, as B.J. Upton doubled and Pena just missed out on a home run. He turned hard on a pitch and lofted a ball to right that bounced over the short wall to plate Upton.

Tampa Bay might have tacked on more runs, but Drew made the catch on an Evan Longoria fly ball as he ran to the corner in right field for the first out. Masterson struck out Cliff Floyd and got Eric Hinske to ground out to end the inning.

Drew then put the Red Sox back in front, by a 3-2 score, in the home half, when he knocked a solo shot to right-center. The Red Sox right fielder made another nice defensive play in the visitors' fifth, when Dioner Navarro slugged the ball deep toward the fence. Drew, though, extended just enough to make the catch as he stepped on the warning track.

But Drew had no chance to get the ball that Pena crushed in the top of the sixth. After Upton singled and stole second, Pena hammered a hanging changeup over the wall for a 4-3 Rays lead.

Game Notes

In addition to placing Ortiz on the DL and calling up Masterson, the Red Sox on Tuesday also recalled infielder Chris Carter from Triple-A Pawtucket and optioned infielder Jeff Bailey to Pawtucket...Tampa Bay left eight runners on base, while the Red Sox stranded four...Ellsbury stole his 28th base of the season, while Upton's stolen base was his 18th.

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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.