The Boston Red Sox beat Tampa Bay again this afternoon at Fenway Park, pushing their winning streak to three in a row.

I got to go to this game – it was my first trip to Fenway this year – and as always, it was a lot of fun.  We spent some time before the game grabbing some lunch at the Bleacher Bar, our usual haunt, and looking around the anniversary bricks that the Red Sox placed in the floor of the concourse.  A friend of ours had gotten a brick for her father, and she had asked us to find it (our directions: “it’s somewhere near the Yaz plaque,” which makes a lot more sense once you’re there), and snap a picture of it for her.

David Ortiz greets Cody Ross at the plate following Ross's three-run home run (credit: Amanda Laws)

We settled into our seats just before a Harvard University student on a Jackie Robinson scholarship sang the national anthem.  Today was the 65th anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier, so every player wore number 42 to recognize the date (this made it a little hard to keep track of who was who, but it was cool nonetheless).

The game was a good one – I kept track of it using my Eephus scorebook.  Boston took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a three-run home run by Cody Ross, who sent Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz home.  The Sox tacked on another run in the fourth inning, when Kelly Shoppach doubled home David Ortiz.  Ortiz, by the way, had a three-for-four day at the plate, capped off with a run-scoring double in the sixth following a Youkilis walk.  Mike Aviles broke a 4-4 tie when he led off the seventh inning with a solo shot to center field.

My scorecard for today's game.

Meanwhile, Boston starter Felix Doubront kept the Rays bats relatively quiet until the fifth inning – the only Rays runner to even sniff home plate was Jeff Keppinger, who got caught in a rundown between third and home when he tried to score from second on a Sean Rodriguez base hit to end the Tampa Bay fourth.  Tampa finally got some runs on the board in the fifth inning when Carlos Pena lined a two-run double to right center field, before Evan Longoria hit a ground-rule double of his own to score Pena.  Luke Scott (who got a hearty Boston welcome each time he came to bat) launched a solo home run in the sixth inning.

Both bullpens pitched well – after Doubront was taken out following Scott’s home run, Scott Atchison, Vicente Padilla, Franklin Morales, and Alfredo Aceves combined to hold Tampa scoreless, and pick up the win (Padilla) and the save (Aceves).  Rays starter Matt Moore, who was tagged with the loss, turned the ball over to Joel Peralta with one out in the seventh innings.  Peralta and Fernando Rodney (who, I’m pretty sure, the Fenway announcer and scoreboard called Frank Rodney) kept Boston off the basepaths the rest of the way.

Here’s a link to the box, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Boston goes for the sweep tomorrow when Daniel Bard takes to the mound against David Price for the 11:05 a.m. Patriot’s Day matchup.

Fenway Park (c/o nesn.com)

Maybe Dorothy’s right.  Maybe, quite simply, there’s no place like home.  After a long spring training and a brutal season-opening road trip, the Boston Red Sox opened up Fenway Park in style today, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 12-2, and bringing their record to 2-5.  The only downside?  Jacoby Ellsbury – who, at least until the iffy Carl Crawford comes back, is the anchor of the Red Sox outfield and a vital part of the lineup, had to leave the game from injury.  We’re not sure how serious Ellsbury’s injury is, but we’ll keep you updated on that.

Following a pre-game ceremony that featured Johnny Pesky, Dwight Evans, Jim Rice, Tim Wakefield, and Jason Varitek, along with the standard flyover (I LOVE THE FLYOVER!), the Sox unleashed an offensive onslaught.  Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, and David Ortiz forced three runs across the plate in the third inning.  After Dustin Pedroia walked to load the bases, Gonzalez lined an RBI single to left, followed by a Youkilis sac fly and an Ortiz dribbler that was good for an infield hit and an RBI.

Jacoby Ellsbury's right shoulder (and the rest of him) pushing a huge tire around. You're welcome.

Boston scored again in the fourth inning, when Kelly Shoppach laced a double off the wall in right field and then came around to score on a single by Ellsbury.  Here’s where things went a little haywire: Pedroia grounded a double-play ball to second, and as Ellsbury slid into second base to break up the play, Tampa shortstop Reid Brignac fell on Ellsbury’s shoulder.  Ruh-roh.  I didn’t actually realize Ellsbury was hurt (my actual job got in the way of my dream job for a few minutes there, and I had to turn off the radio feed), but according to the Red Sox website, Ellsbury was on the ground for several minutes in pain before he left under his own power.  Right fielder Ryan Sweeney took over Ellsbury’s spot in the lineup, and Cody Ross moved to center field.

The Red Sox have, at least so far, termed Ellsbury’s injury as a “right shoulder injury,” and have told reporters that he’s going to be evaluated further.

The eighth inning is where the Red Sox offense really took over, scoring eight runs, seven before an out was recorded.  A Shoppach double, a Sweeney single, a Youkilis single, an Ortiz double, a Ross sac fly… it just went on and on.  Suffice it to say, the Red Sox got their conditioning workouts in running the bases.  It got to the point where I think most people wanted the inning to end, so that the now-boring blowout game could end.  Tampa’s Ben Zobrist hit a home run in the top of the ninth inning off of Mark Melancon, but all that did was prolong the clear Red Sox win.

On the defensive side, Josh Beckett pitched a gem, allowing only one run on five hits over 94 pitches and eight innings.  He only struck out one batter, which is weird for him – in 280 games, he’s never not had a strikeout.  He ended his day getting Carlos Pena to swing at air, though.  Melancon picked up the ball from there, pitching a sturdy ninth inning despite the Zobrist dinger.  The Sox also seemed much more comfortable playing on their own field – again, my real job interfered, but Ross and Ellsbury (at least) each made diving catches to back up Beckett’s effort.

For the Rays, David Price only went three innings before handing the ball over to a bullpen that couldn’t hold on to what was, at that point, only a two-run deficit.  Joel Peralta and Josh Lueke took the brunt of the damage, allowing four runs each during that never-ending Boston eighth.  Peralta didn’t even record an out.

Tampa’s Luke Scott, who gave the Globe an earful about Fenway Park yesterday (the short version: it’s a dump, it’s old, it’s tiny, yadda yadda yadda), couldn’t manage to hit a ball out of the tiny park, mustering only a pinch-hit fly ball to Darnell McDonald in the seventh.

Here’s a link to the box, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Clay Buchholz takes on Jeremy Hellickson Saturday for a 4:05 start.