Shane Victorino Leads Red Sox in 12-2 Win over Rays; Rookie Hurler Gerrit Cole Stuffs Cardinals in 7-1 Pirate Victory

Players of the Day for Friday, October 4, 2013

American League

Banging out 14 hits, the Boston Red Sox stopped the Tampa Bay road show at Fenway Park with a 12-2 win in the opening game of their best-of-five divisional series.

Victorino: 3-for-4

The Rays had won in Texas on Monday to get into the playoffs and then handled Cleveland on Wednesday night, taking claim of the wild card playoff, but the party ended in the bottom of the fourth when the Red Sox plated five runs after Tampa had taken an early 2-0 lead. The Sox tacked on three more in the fifth and four more runs in the eighth, turning the game into a romp for the team which finished with the best record in the AL.

All nine Red Sox batters had at least one hit; Shane Victorino had three, all singles, in four at-bats, with two RBI, a stolen base and a run scored. Boston didn't have any home runs. Nine of their 14 hits were singles; Tampa Bay pitchers issued five walks. Jon Lester took the win, going 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on just three hits, and three walks, whiffing seven Rays batters.

Game two is Saturday at Fenway, 5:37 pm EDT.

In the other AL divisional series, the Tigers got off to a good start by taking game one at Oakland by a 3-2 score. Max Scherzer got the win, striking out 11 over seven innings, walking two and allowing two runs on three hits. Game two is Saturday at 9:07 pm EDT.

National League

Gerrit Cole

Rookie hurler, Gerrit Cole, limited the St. Louis Cardinals to just two hits - one of them a fifth-inning, solo homer by Yadier Molina - over six innings, as the Pittsburgh Pirates evened the divisional series at a game apiece with a 7-1 victory at Bush Stadium.

Cole, who was 10-7 during the regular season and making his first post-season start, stymied the Cardinals throughout his six frames. After Carlos Beltran doubled with one out in the first inning, Cole set down the next 11 consecutive batters, retiring the side in order in the second, third and fourth innings. Molina's homer led off the fifth, but Cole got the next three batters and retired after an uneventful walk to Matt Carpenter in the sixth.

Manager Clint Hurdle made the move in the top of the seventh, pinch-hitting for Cole with a 6-1 lead. Three Pittsburgh relievers mopped up, each throwing a scoreless inning.

Tied at 1-1, the series moves to Pittsburgh on Sunday. Game time is 4:37 pm EDT.

Hanley Ramirez drove in all of the runs for the Dodgers, but he could have used some help as the Braves tied the series with Los Angeles at a game apiece with a 4-3 win at Turner Field in Atlanta. Mike Minor got the win for Atlanta, scattering eight hits over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run. The series shifts to Los Angeles on Sunday at 5:07 pm PDT.

Today's Trivia: The Amazin' Mets, who captured the 1969 World Series, fielded two players who had won rookie of the year awards. Who were they? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: The three prior rookies of the year on the 1977 Yankees were Lou Pineilla (1969, KC), Thurman Munson (1970, Yankees), and Chris Chambliss (1971, Cleveland).