DiFelice, D' Rays Pound BoSox

Mike DiFelice and Paul Sorrento don't get many chances to hit. On Thursday night, they made the most of them.

DiFelice, who had seven RBIs all season, drove in a career-high five runs, and he and Sorrento each went 3-for-4 as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays pounded the Boston Red Sox for the second straight night, 12-3.

DiFelice is the backup catcher to John Flaherty, while Sorrento's playing time has been cut since Tampa Bay called up Bubba Trammell from the minors on June 14.

The Devils Rays had 16 hits one night after beating the Red Sox 11-10 in 10 innings with a 14-hit attack. Neither DiFelice nor Sorrento played in that game.

Â"It felt good to be in there again,Â" said Sorrento, who broke out of a 1-for-18 slump in only his fifth start in the last 22 games. Â"It's been a frustrating two or three weeks, but sometimes you can't control what's going on.Â"

Boston's pitchers couldn't control Tampa Bay, which swept the two-game series and tied a record for the two-year-old team with its fifth straight road win.

Â"We aren't making any excuses,Â" Boston manager Jimy Williams said. Â"They are swinging the bats well and just beat us.Â"

DiFelice tied the game at 1 with an RBI single in the second, then broke the tie with a single in the three-run fourth when Tampa Bay took a 4-1 lead. His sacrifice fly in the seventh made it 7-1 and his two-run single in the eighth finished the scoring.

Tampa Bay had two homers. Miguel Cairo hit his second of the season, a two-run shot that capped a three-run fourth inning. Sorrento's fifth homer made it 5-1 in the fifth.

Â"Basically, throughout the year, we've hit the ball pretty well,Â" Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said.

Wilson Alvarez (4-5) got the win that improved the Devil Rays record to 6-3 over the Red Sox, who went 9-3 against them last year. Jin Ho Cho (2-1) allowed eight hits anfour runs in 3 2-3 innings.

Â"Alvarez did a good job of mixing up his pitches,Â" Boston's Lou Merloni said. Â"He spotted his fastball and threw the slider and curveball for strikes when he needed them.Â"

Alvarez allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings for his first win against Boston since June 4, 1996, a span of five starts.

Tampa Bay tied the game in the second on a double by Wade Boggs, a walk to Sorrento and a single by DiFelice. In the three-run fourth, Sorrento doubled, DiFelice singled him home and Cairo homered.

After Sorrento's homer, Fred McGriff's single made it 6-1 in the sixth. Singles by Boggs and Sorrento set up DiFelice's sacrifice fly in the seventh. The three runs in the eighth scored when Aaron Ledesma was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and DiFelice singled.

The Devil Rays added two in the eighth with help from three passed balls by Creighton Gubanich who entered the game in the eighth and was catching knuckleballer Tim Wakefield for the first time in his career.

Alvarez gave up four hits in his first 2 1-3 innings then retired 10 straight batters before Troy O'Leary walked in the sixth. But Damon Buford flied out.

Boston took a 1-0 lead on O'Leary's RBI single in the first and added two runs in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Wilton Veras and a run-scoring groundout by Darren Lewis.

Notes: Tampa Bay scored at least 10 runs in consecutive games for the first time in its history. ... Nomar Garciaparra extended his hitting streak to 16 games, going 2-for-4. ... Jose Canseco went 2-for-3 with three walks after going 1-for-2 with four walks Wednesday night. ... Boggs went 2-for-4, giving him 2,971 career hits. ... Veras, called up from Double-A Trenton on Wednesday when 3B John Valentin was placed in the disabled list, grounded into a double play in his first major-league at bat. ... The game was the last for the Red Sox at home before the All-Star game is played in Fenway on July 13. They start a 10-game road trip Friday night at the Chicago White Sox.

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