In Tampa, roof caves in on Sox relievers

And though the Sox scored the tying run, it was not because of anything they did. Instead, pinch runner Joey Gathright (in for David Ortiz) came home on a pitch that bounced in the dirt, off the right shoulder of catcher Gregg Zaun and away. But they would get no more, with Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury striking out swinging. That was it, as the Rays turned things around in the bottom of the inning, beating the Sox’ bullpen with three runs in an 8-5 win in front of 19,148. That, combined with a Texas win, left the Sox with a 2 1/2-game lead in the wild-card race. The Rays are five games back.

Asked if he considered pinch hitting for Gonzalez, Francona said, “Yeah. Just Gonzie’d been on everything. I guess if I said I didn’t think about it I’d be lying. But I didn’t think it was the right thing to do. We got bases loaded till the wild pitch, and again Gonzie’d been on everything.’’

Not that it ended there. Ramon Ramirez had gotten three quick outs in the seventh, as he led off for a shorthanded bullpen - neither Billy Wagner nor Jonathan Papelbon were available. But things changed for Ramirez in the eighth. Carlos Pena led off with a double and scored when Pat Burrell singled to right, giving the Rays the lead.

Manny Delcarmen relieved Ramirez, then Evan Longoria did what he has done so often against the Sox, blasting a mammoth home run to left for an 8-5 lead.

“Obviously we tied the score, and the way they responded to some fastballs that we threw, or some velocity-type pitches, hard slider, hard fastball, they were certainly geared up, particularly when they were elevated in the strike zone,’’ pitching coach John Farrell said. “They can be a quick-strike offense as we’ve seen, and certainly that was the case in the eighth inning.’’