David Ortiz homered twice against David Price and Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-for-4 as the Red Sox beat the Rays 7-4 in Game 2 of their American League Division Series. Boston now holds a 2-0 lead in the series as it heads to Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay needed a good start from David Price after Matt Moore’s disastrous Game 1 outing, but the early innings of Game 2 looked like an extension of the series’ first game. Ellsbury started the bottom of the first with a leadoff single, then stole second base and advanced to third when Jose Molina’s throw got away. Dustin Pedroia drove him in with a sac fly, and Ortiz followed with a solo shot to give Boston a 2-0 lead in the first.
After the Rays were able to get a run back in the second, a bit of bad luck bit them in the bottom of the third. After David Ross hit a flyball double off the Green Monster, Ellsbury got jammed by Price, but the bloop ended up landing fair just behind third base. Ross scored, Ellsbury wound up on second, and eventually was driven in once again by Pedroia.
Boston’s lead would grow to 5-1 in the fourth, but Tampa would stage a comeback the next inning with a two-run double from James Loney. The two teams would trade runs in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth to make the score 6-4, but Ortiz’s second home run put the game out of reach in the eighth inning. Koji Uehera struck out two and didn’t allow a hit while picking up the save.
Boston starter John Lackey struck out six in 5.1 innings, but surrendered three walks and seven hits, leading to all four of Tampa’s runs. Craig Breslow, Junichi Tuzawa and Uehara combined to allow just one hit over the game's final 3.2 innings, slamming the door on any comeback hopes. Price threw seven innings for the Rays, but gave up seven runs on nine hits and two walks.
The series will resume Monday in St. Pete at 6:00 p.m. ET. Alex Cobb will attempt to keep the Rays alive once again in a do-or-die game, facing off against Clay Buchholz. Boston hasn’t swept an opponent in the LDS since sweeping the Angels en route to their 2007 World Series title.
