Boston Tames Tampa Bay,3 to 1

TAMPA BAY: 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 6 0

BOSTON: 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 x - 3 9 0

Another Sunday in my favorite New England sports living bar and today the overflow of Eagles fans from the Philly bar across the street are joining us today. Hasn't been this noisy on Sundays all season. A revelation - there's an Eagles fight song (heard it many times this morning). An early start to the day as the Boston Red Sox are playing a doubleheader and this is the first game. A pitching duel of a game, which makes this a very long game in a very long day. It took until the sixth inning, but a Red Sox run finally scored on a Martinez single that drove in Pedroia from second. Then the Tampa Bay Rays brought the game back to being even. In the end it was an Ortiz pinch hit that made the difference in the game. The pitching, of course, was good on both sides and Papelbon was not scary today. Another game will be played in Fenway Park today and let's hope for a similar outcome. The Eagles game is still on and the Philly bar fans are still singing. Perhaps the afternoon will be quieter.

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TAMPA BAY: Starting Pitcher: Matt Garza, Losing Pitcher: Matt Garza

BOSTON: Starting Pitcher: Clay Buchholz, Winning Pitcher: Hideki Okajima (6)

BOSTON: Save: Jonathan Papelbon (36)

BOSTON: Homerun: Dustin Pedrioa (13)

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RED SOX: Wins: 83, Losses: 58, AL East Standings: New York, Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Baltimore

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Next game: Sunday 13 September 2009, 2:00 p.n. PT, Tampa Bay Rays, Fenway Park, Jon Lester