Rays get an explosion out of lineup tweak

RAYS 15, RED SOX 9: Getting both Damian Rolls and Antonio Perez into game pays off as both drive in five on record day.

BOSTON - Boy, that Lou Piniella can look smart sometimes. Perpetually tinkering with the Devil Rays lineup, Piniella juggled things Thursday so he could get both Damian Rolls and Antonio Perez on the field.

He gave Perez, the impressive rookie, a second straight start at third base and he moved Rolls, who'd started 34 straight games at third, back to rightfield for the first time since April.

So how'd it work out?

Perez and Rolls had the biggest day of their careers, each homering and knocking in five runs. And the Rays had one of the biggest days in their history, overcoming Wednesday's debacle by rapping a team-record 21 hits on the way to a 15-9 win over Boston.

"I'm going to call ahead from the plane and have my wife tape (ESPN's) Baseball Tonight," Rolls said.

"(Wednesday) night it was pretty obvious the Red Sox can score big whenever they want to, and we knew coming into today we had to put up as much as we could. Everybody got aggressive, and it was contagious. Everybody started catching the fever."

Perez, whose impressive play has earned him a spot somewhere in the lineup, was 3-for-6, including a three-run homer in the third. Rolls, whose slump disappeared after a day off Wednesday, was 3-for-5, including his first grand slam in the seven-run, 11-batter fifth, then made a daring straight-to-video diving catch in the bottom half.

Every Tampa Bay batter had at least one hit (all but Travis Lee has at least two) and scored at least one run (Carl Crawford scored a team record-tying three). The Rays matched the club-record 15 runs they scored Sunday and had their second seven-run inning in five days. The nine extra-base hits and six doubles were season highs and one shy of team records.

"It feels good to get a win like that," Crawford said. "Just the way I like it."

The Rays bolted to an 11-2 lead in the fifth, but it was barely enough. The Sox, who scored seven in the seventh to turn around Wednesday's game, started coming back again and got within 11-8 in the seventh when Todd Walker hit the fourth homer of the day off Victor Zambrano.

But this time Jesus Colome came out of the bullpen and got some huge outs, Nomar Garciaparra on a popup to end the seventh and Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz (looking at a nasty slider) and Kevin Millar in a 1-2-3 eighth, leaving the Sox drooping for the big weekend series with the Yankees.

And this time the Rays were able to keep scoring, Perez singling in what may have been the biggest run of the day in the eighth and Rolls doing the same to spark a three-run ninth.

"I'm glad we added those tack-on runs," Piniella said. "With the wind blowing out here at Fenway with that lineup they have, you don't want them to feel they can get back in it with one swing."

Rolls, happy to be anywhere in the lineup after getting Wednesday off, said he was spurred on by a dugout challenge from Al Martin to be more aggressive at the plate.

"We got into it a little, I wasn't too happy with him," Rolls said. "Turns out it was the best thing for me.

"He said he was going to get me a dog shock collar so whenever I'm not angry on the field he's going to shock me."

Perez, a 23-year-old who doesn't speak much English, is much more laid back. With catcher Javier Valentin interpreting, Perez said he was happy to play wherever Piniella wanted, was happy to be doing well and was happy the team won. "I'm just trying to improve every at-bat," he said, sporting a .344 average through 20 games.

"He's looking good, isn't he?" Piniella said, knowing the answer. "He's getting an opportunity and he's making the most of it, I can tell you that."

Piniella wasn't sure exactly what tonight's lineup in Chicago would look like. But it's pretty safe to assume he'll get Perez and Rolls in there again.