Rays pounce on Dice-K to blitz Red Sox
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BOSTON (Reuters) - The Tampa Bay Rays mauled Japanese starter Daisuke Matsuzaka in a 14-5 rout of the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday to move within a game and a half of the leading New York Yankees in the American League East.
The Rays scored four runs in the fourth and six in the fifth, chasing Matsuzaka after just 4 2/3 innings, having plundered eight runs from the right-hander.
Ben Zobrist, Jason Bartlett and Evan Longoria each finished with one home run and three RBIs for the Rays, who also got back-to-back homer from Dan Johnson and B.J. Upton in the sixth.
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"I think we're all searching for that rhythm offensively coming down the stretch," Longoria told reporters.
"We need to have good at-bats and consistently push runs across, and when we get runners in scoring position, be able to score those guys. Tonight was a good start, and hopefully we can continue that."
Starter David Price tossed six innings to register his 17th victory of the season as Tampa Bay (84-54) snapped a run of three losses.
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Price, a young left-hander, allowed two runs and four walks but earned his first win since August 9.
"That was a good win for us," said Price, who has put himself in contention for the AL Cy Young Award. "I rode (a stationary bicycle to stay loose during our at-bats). You've got to keep yourself loose so you don't get tight."
The loss saw the Red Sox (77-62) fall 7 games behind the Rays in the AL Wild Card Race.
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Boston took a 2-0 lead in the first where Victor Martinez hit a two RBI double before Tampa Bay answered with an onslaught of 14 unanswered runs.
(Reporting by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Brien)