Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Boston 3, Tampa Bay 1
When: 7:10 PM ET, Friday, July 13, 2012
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - James Hoye, 1B - Jeff Nelson, 2B - Mike DiMuro, 3B - Jim Reynolds
Attendance: 29089

Red Sox 3, Rays 1:
David Ortiz hit a mammoth home run and Pedro Ciriaco drove in a pair as visiting Boston jumped back above .500 by shutting down Tampa Bay.

Franklin Morales (2-2) went five scoreless innings and five relievers combined to allow an unearned run in four frames, with Alfredo Aceves working the ninth for his 20th save.

Ortiz got Boston on the board in the bottom of the first, coming up with two outs and blasting a 3-1 fastball from Jeremy Hellickson deep into the right field stands. The no-doubt shot was his 23rd of the season and 401st of his career.

Boston took advantage of Hellickson’s control issues in the second for two more runs. The right-hander walked two and hit a batter to load the bases for Ciriaco, who sent a slow grounder up the middle just out of the reach of shortstop Elliot Johnson and second baseman Jeff Keppinger to plate a pair.

Tampa Bay had a chance to do some damage in the fourth, when Morales walked the bases loaded with two outs. But Morales got Luke Scott to chase a pair of high fastballs in a strikeout, ending the threat.

Morales was charged with two hits and three walks while striking out five.

Hellickson (4-6) went six-plus innings and allowed three runs and five hits while walking four and striking out five. The right-hander has not won since May 16 despite five quality starts in that span.

The Rays pushed across an unearned run in the sixth on Sean Rodriguez’s double but failed to continue the rally.

GAME NOTEBOOK: OF Jacoby Ellsbury (shoulder), who has been out since April 13, went 1-for-5 in his return for Boston. Will Middlebrooks (hamstring), who has been out since July 1, went 0-for-4. … Red Sox 1B Adrian Gonzalez (illness) was a late scratch from the lineup. … The Rays signed first-round draft pick Richie Shaffer ahead of the deadline on Friday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Boston   Tampa Bay
Franklin Morales Player Jeremy Hellickson
Win W/L Loss
5.0 IP 6.0
5 Strikeouts 5
2 Hits 5
0.00 ERA 4.50
Hitting
Boston   Tampa Bay
Pedro CiriacoPlayer Ben Zobrist
3 Hits 2
2 RBI 0
0 HR 0
3 TB 4
1.000 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Boston 7 1 11 .226 16 9 3 5 1 2
Tampa Bay 6 0 10 .182 12 11 1 3 0 0