Final, Rays 1-0: The Sox threatened to make some noise in the ninth, putting runners at first and second, but the Rays were able to hold on for the 1-0 victory.
After Pedroia’s walk, Adrian Gonzalez grounded out to first. Because it came on a 3-2 count on which Pedroia was running, the Sox avoided the double play in that situation. Rodney then intentionally walked David Ortiz with two outs, bringing up Cody Ross, who eventually struck out to end the ballgame.
James Shields was stellar in this one, not allowing a run in eight-plus innings. Bard pitched well himself despite having some control issues.
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2:02 p.m.: Dustin Pedroia did what he does best, getting on base to potentially spark a Red Sox rally.
After Mike Aviles grounded out to begin the inning, Dustin Pedroia worked the count full and eventually drew a walk, sending James Shields to the showers after 8 1/3 superb innings.
Fernando Rodney is now coming on for the Rays to try and close this one out.
Mid 9th, Rays 1-0: Matt Albers only made one appearance this season before today, recording 2/3 of an inning. But Bobby Valentine noted before the game that it was simply a matter of opportunity, and Albers got that this afternoon, coming on to pitch the ninth for the Sox.
And while it wasn’t exactly pretty, Albers still got the job done, keeping the deficit at one run heading into the ninth.
After Jose Molina grounded out softly, Sean Rodriguez and Carlos Pena sandwiched a Desmond Jennings line out to put runners at the corners. Evan Longoria then came up looking to give the Rays some insurance, but he hit a little dribbler in front of the mound that Saltalamacchia was able to handle cleanly.
The Sox will send the top of the order in Mike Aviles, Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez to the plate in the ninth.
End 8th, Rays 1-0: The Sox will have to take care of business in the ninth if they want to complete the sweep of the Rays.
Shields made quick work of the bottom of the Boston order in the eighth.
Nick Punto struck out swinging to begin the frame, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Darnell McDonald didn’t fare much better against the right-hander.
Matt Albers is coming on for the Sox.
Mid 8th, Rays 1-0: Justin Thomas came back out for the eighth and kept the Rays lead at 1-0.
Things didn’t start off as planned, with Ben Zobrist singling to kick off the inning. He was later wiped off the bases, however, when Jarrod Saltalamacchia gunned him down trying to steal second.
That caught stealing sandwiched a popout by Matt Joyce and a strikeout by Reid Brignac.
Mike Aviles actually intentionally dropped the little pop-up by Joyce in an attempt to spin an easy double play, but the umpiring crew wasn’t going for it. When Brignac whiffed, the ball bounced out in front of the plate, requiring Salty to pick it up and throw down to first to record the out.
Bottom 7th, Rays 1-0: Cody Ross tried to steal with Ryan Sweeney tp to bat and was caught. In the process, Sweeney struck out.
Only two more innings for the Red Sox to try to crack Shields.
Also, it’s worth noting that when Bobby Valentine walked up to the mound to yank Bard for Thomas, he was booed by the Fenway crowd. Some of them even yelled “Youk” in support of Kevin Youkilis.
Here is the controversy between the pair in cased you missed out on the action.
Mid 7th, Rays 1-0: After Bard walked in a run, Justin Thomas came in to replace him.
Thomas ended the inning without any more damage, getting Luke Scott to fly out to right field.
Bard was certainly pumped about that, clapping his hands hard as Thomas walked to the dugout.
1:07 p.m: Daniel Bard was at 107 pitches with the bases loaded. A trip to the mound was ongoing.
Ultimately, the team declined to substitute a reliever and Bard wound up walking in a run. He was gassed and Valentine didn’t make the best decision on that one.
Bottom 6th, 0-0: Always the king of strategizing, Joe Maddon had the Rays pull a slight shift with Mike Aviles up to bat.
It worked as he wound up lining out as opposed to tallying a hit. He’s been rolling since hitting leadoff, unloading homers over the past two games.
Mid 6th, 0-0: Bard has thrown 87, 53 of them for strikes. He’s improved on his efficiency and has nailed his spots.
A much better outing from the former reliever. Pedroia helped out with some nifty work, turning the double play to end the inning.
Speaking of Pedroia, he was fuming before the game when asked about Valentine’s comments on Youkilis. Take a look.
Bottom 5th, 0-0: With two outs, Nick Punto displayed some good patience and discipline earning a walk against Shields.
Also, for you political heads, Mitt Romney is here at today’s game. Before Bobby Valentine’s pregame news conference, there was a glimpse of Secret Service men checking the player’s parking lot entrance in preparation for Romney.
Mid 5th, 0-0: The pitcher’s duel continues even though Bard almost got into a jam.
After he allowed a double to Desmond Jennings and walked Pena, he found himself in a sticky situation. But he stepped up to the occasion and struck out Evan Longoria.
He leaned on his changeup in there more, which proved well for him as he aims to perfect it.
End 4th, 0-0: James Shields got the Sox to open the home half of the fourth the same way the Rays ended the top half of the frame; with a comebacker to the mound.
Dustin Pedroia started the bottom of the fourth with a groundout back to Shields, and Adrian Gonzalez finished up with a frozen rope off the base of the wall in left. Matt Joyce got it back in quickly, though, which proved to be important.
David Ortiz followed up by grounding into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning after a pretty good battle with Shields.
Mid 4th, 0-0: Bard again keeps the Rays in check, with a twin-killing sealing the deal in the fourth.
After Ben Zobrist walked with one out, Dustin Pedroia made a fantastic diving play going up the middle on what looked to be a base hit by Matt Joyce. Pedroia rolled over and flipped the ball to Aviles, who was covering second, but it wasn’t in time to get the force out.
Bard was able to induce a double play on the next at-bat, though, dodging a broken bat to start a 1-6-3 twin killing.
Bottom 3rd, 0-0: Ouch, James Shields has been throwing fire so far. So much so, that he’s caused three broken bats from Red Sox hitters.
He’s been sharp as he’s been for the majority of his career, racking up two strikeouts and has just allowed one hit.
Mid 3rd, 0-0: It’s innings like this where the Daniel Bard experiment shows its high ceiling and potential.
He struck out Sean Rodriguez, Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria in this inning with a dose of sliders and fastballs. He sprinkled in a few changeups along the way to punch them out too.
Bottom 2nd, 0-0: Cody Ross’ broken-bat, infield single stirred some applause. He continues to get on base this series in Fenway.
He credit his surge to working with hitting coach Dave Magadan. He showered Magadan with the highest praise a player could give a coach.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Daniel Bard plunked Ben Zobrist — who was shaken up for a moment — and walked Jeff Keppinger, but in the end, he was able to keep the Rays off the scoreboard.
It took some great defense from Ryan Sweeney in right field, though, as he made a diving play with runners on first and second to end the frame.
End 1st, 0-0: Friendly Park hasn’t typically been too kind to James Shields, but the Tampa Bay right-hander cruised through the first inning.
Mike Aviles led off the game and saw 10 pitches — fouling off four — before popping out to Carlos Pena at first.
Shields then got Dustin Pedroia to ground out to short before sitting down Adrian Gonzalez swinging on a changeup.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Daniel Bard made quick work of the Rays in the first inning. He struck out Desmond Jennings, then retired Carlos Pena on a lineout to first and Evan Longoria on a sky-high fly to center.
Bard whiffed Jennings on three pitches, freezing the talented, young outfielder with an 83-mph slider to kick off the ballgame.
Pena then hit the second pitch he saw right on the screws, but it was right at Adrian Gonzalez.
Longoria saw three pitches, eventually getting under a 95-mph heater from Bard.
11:04 a.m.: We’re under way on a beautiful day at Friendly Fenway.
It’s been an interesting 24 hours for the Sox, as an apparent misunderstanding between Bobby Valentine and Kevin Youkilis has taken over the headlines this morning.
8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox (4-5) are moving closer and closer to a four-game sweep of the Rays (4-5) and will have a chance to do so early, with the game starting at 11:05 a.m. With a chance to get to .500, the Red Sox will have Daniel Bard, who gave up five runs through five innings in his first outing against Toronto, on the mound. It will mark his second start in his reliever-to-starter transition.
The Rays will send James Shields to take on Bard. Shields captured his first win of the season Wednesday, limiting the Tigers to two runs through eight innings. In his career at Fenway, Shields is 1-9 with a 6.75 ERA in 10 career starts.
For more details and analysis from Fenway, follow NESN.com’s live blog. Be sure to tune into NESN for the game.
