ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Mike Carp connected for a pinch-hit grand slam in the 10th inning and the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 on Wednesday night.
Carp sent a drive over the center-field fence on the first pitch from Roberto Hernandez. It was the first pinch-hit grand slam for Boston since Kevin Millar hit one at Milwaukee on June 7, 2003.
Dustin Pedroia opened the 10th with a walk against Joel Peralta (2-7) and went to second on Shane Victorino’s bunt. After David Ortiz was intentionally walked, Hernandez replaced Peralta and walked Mike Napoli on four pitches before Carp connected for his ninth homer.
Boston closer Koji Uehara (4-0) struck out two during a perfect ninth. He has retired his last 34 batters.
James Loney homered for the Rays, who trail the Red Sox by 9½ games in the division race. Tampa Bay, which has lost 13 of 17, saw its lead drop to one game over the New York Yankees for the second AL wild-card spot.
The Rays trailed 3-1 before Evan Longoria doubled in a run in the seventh and Loney hit a tying solo shot off Brandon Workman in the eighth.
Napoli had a two-run double and Daniel Nava hit an RBI grounder off Alex Cobb to put the Red Sox up 3-0 in the third. Napoli has driven in 11 runs over his last seven games.
The Rays got one run back in the third on David DeJesus’ RBI double. Red Sox shortstop Stephen Drew made a strong defensive play later in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded when he drove to his right to field Desmond Jennings’ grounder and then throw out Matt Joyce at second base.
Ryan Dempster, who gave up one run, four hits and five walks in five innings, struck out Jennings to leave the bases loaded in the fifth.
Cobb allowed three runs and seven hits over 5 2-3 innings.
Tampa Bay just missed turning a triple play in the sixth. With runners on first and second, Longoria leaped to grab Will Middlebrooks’ high-hopper near the line and then landed on the third-base bag. Longoria threw out Drew at second, but Middlebrooks just beat the ensuing throw to first.
NOTES: Red Sox manager John Farrell said RHP Clay Buchholz came through his first start in three months Tuesday night in good shape and will pitch again on Sunday. Buchholz, who had been sidelined by a strained neck, threw five innings in Boston’s 2-0 win over the Rays. … Tampa Bay is hitless in its last 12 at-bats with the bases loaded. … Texas Rangers senior adviser Tom Giordano scouted the game on the 60th anniversary of his debut as a major league player with the Philadelphia Athletics, a game in which he hit a home run.
Sox to unveil statue of Yaz
The Boston Red Sox plan to honor Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski with a statue outside Fenway Park.
The team announced Wednesday that a dedication ceremony will take place before Boston’s Sept. 22 game against Toronto. Yastrzemski is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The statue will capture a moment that took place on October 2, 1983, when the Red Sox star tipped his helmet to fans at Fenway Park before the final at-bat.
Yastrzemski says the statue is quite an honor, something he “never could have imagined.”
It will be the third statue outside the ballpark’s Gate B entrance, and will be placed between the Ted Williams statue and “The Teammates” statue depicting Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, and Williams.
Yastrzemski was an 18-time All-Star. He won the Triple Crown in 1967.