01:00 AM EDT on Friday, April 21, 2006

BOSTON -- A disputed call by umpire Ron Kulpa didn't cost the Devil Rays any runs, but it helped cost them Scott Kazmir, their best young pitcher, at least for late-game action last night.

Kulpa, umpiring at first, ruled Manny Ramirez had checked his swing on a 1-and-2 pitch with a runner at second and two outs in the sixth.

Replays seemed to indicate that Kulpa's call was incorrect. The Devil Rays, notably manager Joe Maddon, who yelled at Kulpa from his dugout on the third-base side and even stepped onto the field to motion and yell at Kulpa, didn't need the replay for their opinion of the call.

Had Kulpa rung up Ramirez, Kazmir, 22, a flame-throwing left-hander, would have been out of the sixth inning, having thrown 94 pitches, which could have allowed him to return for the seventh.

But the sixth inning continued because of Kulpa's call. Kazmir eventually walked Ramirez. And on his fourth pitch to the next batter, Mike Lowell, a fastball up and away for a ball, making the count 2 and 2, Kazmir felt a problem with his left hand.

After a huddle at the mound with his manager, his pitching coach, the trainer and the infielders, Kazmir threw a couple of practice pitches, shaking his left hand after doing so. The Rays decided they didn't want to take any chances with their valuable pitcher, taking him out, much to Kazmir's disappointment.

It was announced later that Kazmir was suffering from muscle cramps in his thumb and wrist.

If it was any consolation to the Devil Rays, Boston didn't score in the inning despite getting what Tampa Bay thought was an extra out.

Pena happy to be away

The Red Sox left Fenway Park for a 10-day, 9-game road trip after last night's game.

It's likely that no one was happier to be leaving Fenway than right fielder Wily Mo Pena.

The new member of the Sox had his share of troubles playing the carom in right field over the homestand. Last night, he tried tracking Travis Lee's extra-base hit down the line in the fourth.

Pena set up at the low wall just past the foul pole, figuring to trap the ball between himself and the wall.

But the ball hit the wall and kicked back toward right field. Pena was able to barehand the ball with an athletic dive, holding Lee to a double, but Jorge Cantu, running from first base on the pitch, was able to score the run that tied the score at 1-1.

Youkilis keeps getting on

Kevin Youkilis has been known for his ability to get on base, so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that despite being a big-league starter for the first time in his career he has continued to reach base at a high rate.

He entered last night's game with a .448 on-base percentage, eighth-best in the league.

What is interesting is how quick Youkilis's hands are. The Red Sox infielder crowds the plate so much his hands basically are hanging over in the strike zone as the pitcher winds up.

Youkilis doesn't get jammed very often, as he showed last night in the first inning. On the ninth pitch of the at-bat, Kazmir, tried to saw off Youklis's bat with a 94-mph heater.

But Youkilis was able to pull in his hands and get around on the blazing fastball, drilling it to left-center for a double.

While Youkilis has played a very solid first base in his first month as a big-league starter at the position, it's still a bit of a learning process.

In the fifth, for instance, Tomas Perez hit a grounder wide of first base. Youkilis had to make a split-second decision -- go after the ball or go to the bag and let the second baseman (Mark Loretta) take care of the harmless bouncer? It's one of the tougher decisions for a first baseman.

Youkilis went after the ball, wich wasn't the best decision. He didn't even get close to the ball, which went right to Loretta.

Fortunately for Youkilis, pitcher Tim Wakefield did his job, which, on any ball hit to the right means he races over to cover first base if needed. In this case he was needed. He got to the bag and took Loretta's throw for the out.

Loretta's a leather man

The beauty of Loretta's play in the sixth wasn't so much the diving stop of the ground ball that seemingly was headed up the middle for a hit.

In his brief time with the Red Sox, Loretta has shown that making that type of stab and then throwing to first for the out is routine.

But what made the play so outstanding was the fact that Loretta knew he had precious little time to field the ball and fire it to first because speedy Carl Crawford had hit the ball and was racing down the line, smelling an infield single.

Loretta smoothly backhanded the ball, stopped his slide, planted his left foot in the dirt and, pushing off from his right knee on the ground, made a quick and accurate throw that easily beat Crawford to the bag.

Gomes likes 1st pitch

The Red Sox pitchers might want to be careful with their first pitch to Jonny Gomes the next time they face the Devil Rays. He clubbed Tim Wakefield's first pitch of the seventh for a homer to left, and he greeted Julian Tavarez with a first-pitch homer to virtually the same spot in the ninth.

skrasner@projo.com / (401) 277-7340