Going in right direction

“Pedroia hitting a home run to right field, I’ve said this several times, is the last thing you expected,’’ Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Most of the time when he goes to that side of the field, it’s a line drive. He just got that up and hit it in the opposite-field bullpen. That’s their day when that happens.’’

From the man on the mound, there was this: “That little guy’s got some pop,’’ Clay Buchholz said.

With the sun finally shining on Fenway, and the Sox finally able to play a full nine innings (or, rather, 18), the team returned to its pursuit of the wild-card berth in the playoffs. Thanks to Pedroia, that started off well. It continued going well in Game 2, thanks to Jon Lester and another opposite-field homer by another righthanded batter (Jason Bay).

Not that it was easy, but the Sox were playing the Rays at exactly the right time, turning Tampa Bay’s eight-game losing streak into an 11-game slide by the time the Rays slumped out of Boston.

“It’s been tough, but I think the biggest thing is here in our clubhouse, we’re fighting to make the playoffs,’’ Jonathan Papelbon said. “It makes it a lot easier when you have something to fight for and a goal in mind that, hey, let’s just keep chugging along here and not let rain or weather or anything else that we don’t have any control over really dictate how we’re going to go out there and play.’’

By the end of the three-game sweep, all played in about 24 hours because of weather issues, the Rays had lost their season and the Sox increased their wild-card lead to four games over the Rangers. With stellar performances from both Sox starters, seven innings and one run from Buchholz and eight innings and no runs from Lester, the Rays could never get any offense going, scoring just one run over the 18 innings, and just two in the series.

But, even with Buchholz having given up just the one run, it still came down to the end in the first game. With Matt Garza still pitching in the eighth, David Ortiz smashed a double to begin the inning after having come in 2-for-21 career off Garza.