Cleanup Hitter Upton Homers To Top Boston
Published: Aug 23, 2007
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ST. PETERSBURG - B.J. Upton was pretty sure he batted cleanup once for the Durham Bulls. He couldn't remember which season, though, and neither could former Bulls manager Bill Evers.
"It didn't last long, did it?" said Evers, now Tampa Bay's bench coach.
No, not long at all. One game, clearly not memorable to either of the primary participants.
It won't last long this time, either.
Maybe.
Batting fourth for the first time in his major-league career Wednesday, Upton did what a cleanup hitter is supposed to do. His two-run, opposite-field home run off Daisuke Matsuzaka in the sixth inning gave the Devil Rays a 2-1 victory against the Red Sox, making a deserving winner of Rays starting pitcher Edwin Jackson.
"I really believe this about [Upton]," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "As he gains more experience, you're going to see a lot of that out of him. He's shown us all year that he's able to hit in RBI situations. He doesn't shy away from it."
Upton said Matsuzaka - who has been the losing pitcher in all three of Boston's losses this year in 12 games against the Rays - left a fastball up and hittable to right field.
"A blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while," said Upton, who matched his professional best with his 18th home run.
He batted fourth Wednesday, Maddon said, in order to provide protection for temporary No. 3 hitter Carlos Pena. The strategy actually worked in reverse, because Matsuzaka was still careful enough with Pena to walk him twice - including ahead of Upton's home run.
Upton also contributed with his arm, throwing out David Ortiz at the plate in the fifth inning to maintain a one-run deficit.
It was one of three standout defensive plays by Tampa Bay's outfield. Another was a running, over-the-shoulder catch by Carl Crawford on a fly ball by Alex Cora to end the fourth inning.
The third was an apparent diving grab of Mike Lowell's ninth-inning line drive by Delmon Young in right field. Replays showed Young trapped the ball (it was called an out by first-base umpire John Hirschbeck), a fact that prompted Young to throw to second base - where Ortiz would have been out on a force play.
All of which helped Jackson's fifth consecutive quality start (six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs) stand up. In eight starts since the All-Star break, Jackson - whose ERA peaked at 8.20 on June 13 - is 3-3 with a 2.79 ERA.
One particular moment Wednesday illustrated just how far Jackson has come in development.
He led off the third by hitting Dustin Pedroia on the elbow with a 96-mph fastball, then allowed a double by Kevin Youkilis and a walk by Ortiz.
Bases loaded, no outs against the Red Sox as recently as June meant impending disaster for Jackson. This time, he gave up a sacrifice fly by Lowell, then got J.D. Drew to pop out and Jason Varitek to ground out.
"That was the key, there," Jackson said. "That was the inning where most of the year, I had one inning that kills me. That was definitely it. To come out of that with only one run felt good."
Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.
