Unlucky seven

Rays hammer Sox with seventh-inning onslaught

 

Julio Lugo hits Tampa Bay’s Jason Bartlett on the leg as Bartlett was attempting to turn a fourth inning double play during Wednesday’s Sox-Rays game. Ump Sam Holbrook ruled Lugo interfered with Bartlett and called Sox runner Jacoby Ellsbury out at first to complete the double play.  Foto: AP

 

Rays 7, Red Sox 6

In some pre-Fourth of July fireworks, the Rays scored six times in the seventh inning against a parade of pitiful Sox relievers on the way to a 7-6 win over Boston Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

Tampa finished off the sweep of the Sox in style, pounding Boston bullpen and turning a 4-1 deficit into a 7-4 lead in a 38-minute inning that saw 11 Rays’ hitters come to the plate.

Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, David Aardsma and Javier Lopez were all ineffective, as Sox’ pitchers threw 54 pitches in the inning, yielding six runs and four hits and setting the stage for Boston’s fifth straight loss.

Dustin Pedroia had four hits, including a solo homer in the first, to help power the Sox offense. In addition, J.D. Drew had a strong night, finishing with two hits and an RBI.

Thanks in large part to the exploits of Pedroia and Drew, Boston built a 4-1 lead entering the bottom of the seventh. That’s when the bottom fell out for the Sox — Evan Longoria (two-run double) and Jason Bartlett (two-run single) doing most of the damage, turning a three-run hole into a three-run edge.

Boston got one back in the eighth and another in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough, as the Sox fell 3 1/2 games out of first with the defeat.