Derek Lowe comes to life and Jason Varitek belts a three-run homer.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Jason Varitek hit a three-run homer and Derek Lowe shrugged off a shaky start to pitch six innings Wednesday night as the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7-5.
Lowe allowed five runs and six hits, struck one and walked four to improve to 6-2 against the Devil Rays, who wasted a 3-0 lead.
Varitek homered off one of the catwalks that support the roof at Tropicana Field, giving Boston a 7-3 lead in the fifth. The Red Sox also scored three in the third when Kevin Millar and David Ortiz had RBI doubles off loser Jim Parque.
Shea Hillenbrand had a run-scoring single in the third, giving him five RBIs in three games. Lowe, who no-hit the Devil Rays at Fenway Park last April 27, gave up RBI singles to Rocco Baldelli and Marlon Anderson in the first.
The third run in the inning scored on a wild pitch.
Aubrey Huff’s two-run homer trimmed the lead to 7-5 in the fifth.
Varitek’s homer struck a support beam about 120 feet above the playing surface and was estimated to have traveled 428 feet.
Parque allowed seven runs, seven hits and five walks in five innings.
Boston’s bullpen blew three-run leads the previous two nights against the Devil Rays but was not a problem this time. Mike Timlin pitched two scoreless innings before Chad Fox worked the ninth to earn his first save.
Notes: Boston’s Manny Ramirez has a 16-game hitting streak … Lowe threw 33 pitches in the first inning and just seven in the second when he retired the side in order. … With four years in the majors, Parque is the second-most experienced pitcher on the Devil Rays behind Friday’s starter Steve Parris (six years). … Former Detroit 2B Damion Easley, released last week with $14.3 million still owed to him on his contract, signed with Tampa Bay. He arrived in time for the game, but did not play.
… Tuesday night’s 16-inning game, won by Boston 9-8, was the Red Sox’s longest in innings since Aug. 25, 2001 when they lost to Texas 8-7 in 18 innings, a game that started Boston’s spiral out of contention.
AP-ES-04-02-03 2147EST
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