The Red Sox rout the Rays to cut the gap at top

Daisuke Matsuzaka became the first Japanese pitcher to win 17 games in a season for the Boston Red Sox.

MIAMI // The Boston Red Sox hit six home runs to move within percentage points of the American League East lead with a 13-5 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday. The victory was the Red Sox's first this season in seven visits to St Petersburg and their third in a row, lifting them into a virtual tie for first place with the Rays. The defending World Series champions have been off the pace for nearly two months.

"We want to finish first," the Boston manager Terry Francona said after the game. "That's what you set out to do." David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Jason Bay, Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury all hit home runs for the Red Sox, while Daisuke Matsuzaka (17-2) became the first Japanese pitcher to win 17 games in a season. It was an easy night for Matsuzaka, who left after five innings with a 12-1 lead. He allowed one run on three hits, striking out seven and walking two, topping the former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo's mark of 16 wins in a season, which he reached three times.

Ortiz and Youkilis both had two of Boston's 11 hits, with Ortiz driving in four runs and Youkilis three. Boston scored four runs in the first and seven more in the fourth to turn the game into a rout. "That was just a good old-fashioned whippin' tonight," the Tampa manager Joe Maddon said. "Believe it or not, this is an easier loss to accept. "When you lose 2-1 or 3-2 on one play, those are the ones you go home and kind of beat yourself up after."

Scott Kazmir (11-7) was roughed up for nine runs on six hits over three innings, striking out two and walking four. Akinori Iwamura, Justin Ruggiano and Dan Johnson all hit home runs for the Rays. "It was just one of those nights," Kazmir said. "I just didn't feel like that was me out there." *Reuters