Walk off HR sinks the Sox
Dan Johnson stunned the Boston Red Sox again, hitting a leadoff homer in the 10th inning that gave the Tampa Bay Rays a 3-2 victory Saturday night.
Randy Choate (4-3) retired David Ortiz with a runner on first and two outs in the 10th.
Victor Martinez homered for Boston, which fell 5½ games behind the Rays and New York Yankees in both the AL East and wild-card races. Clay Buchholz came up short in a bid for his 16th win, getting a no-decision after giving up two runs and four hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Tampa Bay got a homer from B.J. Upton. Matt Garza allowed one run and six hits in seven innings.
Boston went ahead 2-1 in the eighth when Martinez hit a solo homer off Joaquin Benoit. The Boston catcher had two homers off AL All-Star starter David Price in Boston's 3-1 win over the Rays on Friday night.
Upton tied it at 2 later in the eighth with his solo shot against Buchholz.
Buchholz's shutout streak ended at 26 innings in the seventh when Tampa Bay tied it at 1. Carlos Pena, who missed 14 games this month with a right foot injury, reached on a fielder's choice grounder and went to third when Buchholz was charged with an error for an errant pickoff throw. Pena scored when right fielder J.D. Drew made a running catch in foul territory near the wall on Matt Joyce's sacrifice fly.
Buchholz had won his previous four starts.
Adrian Beltre put the Red Sox up 1-0 in the fourth with a sacrifice fly.
Buchholz got early defensive support from center fielder Ryan Kalish, who made a fully extended diving catch to take away a run-scoring extra-base hit from Upton with two outs in the second.
The game was briefly delayed in the bottom of the sixth when stadium security tackled a fan to the ground near the Rays' bullpen down the right-field line.
Game notes
Martinez fouled a ball off his right lower leg before getting an infield single in the 10th. ... Tampa Bay All-Star LF Carl Crawford was back in the lineup after missing Friday's game with a stomach virus. ... Boston reinstated LHP Hideki Okajima (strained right hamstring) from the 15-day disabled list and optioned RHP Michael Bowden to Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Red Sox manager Terry Francona said C Jason Varitken, who has been on the DL since July 1 with a broken right foot, will have his status reviewed in about a week. Varitek is taking batting practice and catching bullpen sessions. ... Rays reliever Grant Balfour (ribs) allowed three runs, two hits, three walks and struck out two over two-thirds of an inning for Class-A Charlotte.
