Staff flirts with record during twin-bill sweep

08:38 AM EDT on Saturday, May 1, 2004

BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

AP photo Byung-Hyun Kim was very effective yesterday in his first appearance of the season, shutting out the Devil Rays on one hit for five innings and picking up a win.

BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox' sparkling shutout streak was snapped quickly, falling by the wayside in the first inning of the nighttime portion of yesterday's day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park.

But the offense quickly came to pitcher Derek Lowe's aid, pouring across seven runs in the bottom of the first en route to a 7-3 tumbling of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and a sweep of the twin bill.

Earlier, Byung-Hyun Kim, Tim Wakefield, Mike Timlin and Alan Embree combined on a three-hitter in a 4-0 victory that stretched the staff's shutout string to 32 innings, tied for the fourth-longest such streak in the organization's history.

David Ortiz' two-run homer on a 3-and-0 pitch from Tampa Bay starter Victor Zambrano snapped a scoreless tie in the fifth inning of the opener.

Ortiz also was a contributor to the seven-run first-inning plastering of Devil Rays starter Damian Moss in the second game, knocking in the initial run with a single to right.

Moss faced eight batters and retired only one of them, as his earned-run average zoomed from an already awful 9.39 to a

perfectly dreadful 16.88. Jason Varitek made the loudest noise, clubbing a three-run homer that just cleared the Monster, with hot-hitting Manny Ramirez (RBI single) and light-hitting Pokey Reese (two-run, wall-ball single off John Halama) also getting in on the fun.

The twin victories boosted Boston's winning streak to six games. The Red Sox have taken 11 of their last 13 in improving to 15-6.

While the team's overall shutout streak was snapped, the bullpen put up six more zeroes yesterday, running its scoreless string to an amazing 32 1/3 innings over the last 11 games.

"The way we played, it doesn't seem like it was a very long day," said Boston manager Terry Francona. "If you're going to be here all day, the best way to go about it is to win two. That's not very easy to do."

The Sox, though, made it look easy, as they have for the last two weeks or so. And the offense, as it usually does for Lowe, made things easy for the sinkerballer.

The right-hander, who received a major league best 7.26 runs of support per nine innings a year ago, had a 7-2 lead after one inning last night. In two of Lowe's previous starts this year, the Sox scored 10 and 11 runs.

Lowe (3-1) surrendered three runs in seven innings, only one of which was earned, shaving his E.R.A. from 6.75 to 4.98. He was not dominant, however. Lowe, who threw 100 pitches, was tagged for nine hits and made a costly fielding blunder, but he was able to work out of a couple of jams, thanks in part to a pair of double plays.

"You're going to have games when you go out and dominate. Those wins will come," said Lowe. "Wins like these you have to grind out. I felt like I threw a lot more pitches than I did. You take more pride in wins like these."

Though Lowe was the winning pitcher, he was responsible for the end of the Sox' shutout streak, which began last weekend in Yankee Stadium.

Boston pitchers blanked the Yankees over the final 14 innings of that series, and back-to-back whitewashes of the Devil Rays added up to 32 innings, only seven off the organization's record of 39, established in 1919.

And the three consecutive shutouts marked the first time the Sox' staff had accomplished that feat since Dana Kiecker (2-0), Roger Clemens (1-0) and Greg Harris (1-0) were the starters in the shutout hat trick in Toronto from Aug. 24-26, 1990.

Carl Crawford, however, ripped Lowe's first pitch for a double off the wall. He went to third and Julio Lugo was safe when Lowe fumbled Lugo's sacrifice bunt for an error. After a groundout to Lowe by Aubrey Huff moved Lugo to second and left Crawford at third, Rhode Island's Rocco Baldelli snapped the shutout string with a run-scoring grounder to second.

Just for good measure, Robert Fick drilled an RBI double to right, giving Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. That advantage, though, lasted only five batters. The first six Sox to face Moss reached base, and the Sox were on their way to a sweep.

"The pitchers here have done a great job, but we know we can hit, too," said Ortiz.

Especially Ortiz. The hulking Ortiz had a pair of doubles and a walk in the first game, but it was his homer that started Boston on its way to the triumph in the afternoon game.

Ortiz, who had walked on four pitches in his previous at-bat, got ahead of Zambrano at 3 and 0 with Bill Mueller at first base and two outs.

Ortiz had the green light to swing. And he did, finding a fastball in his zone and sending it soaring into the center-field bleachers.

"Hitting 3 and 0, that's a little bit tough," said Ortiz, who couldn't remember his last 3-and-0 homer. "You have to be smart. You have to be careful. You don't want to swing at a pitch that's not your pitch and hit a ground ball or a fly ball. You're looking for a pitch to drive."

Right now, the Red Sox are in the driver's seat in the American League East as they hit the road for a three-game series in Texas, beginning tonight. They are a confident bunch.

"We're not killing anyone, but we're finding ways to win," said center fielder Johnny Damon. "We feel like we can win every single game; that's the mind-set of everyone on the team."