Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria and Willie Aybar kept Tampa Bay's power surge going with homers over the Green Monster, giving the Rays a 5-1 lead over the Boston Red Sox after three innings of Game 4 of the AL championship series Tuesday night.
The Rays hit four homers in Monday's 9-1 win that put them ahead 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. All seven homers cleared the 37-foot high wall.
Kevin Cash also cleared the wall in left for Boston, leading off the third with a drive off Andy Sonnanstine to cut Tampa Bay's lead to 5-1.
Longoria homered for the second straight game and for the fifth time in the postseason, breaking the rookie record for a single postseason set by Miguel Cabrera with Florida in 2003.
Tim Wakefield, who led the Red Sox with 25 homers allowed during the regular season, made his first appearance in 16 days. He was replaced by Justin Masterson after allowing Aybar's homer and Dioner Navarro's single with two outs in the third.
It was the shortest postseason start by a Boston pitcher since Bronson Arroyo lasted two innings in Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox lost the first three games of that series then won the next four before sweeping St. Louis in the World Series.
Sonnanstine, 17 years younger than the 42-year-old Wakefield, retired the first four batters then worked out of a jam.
Third baseman Longoria bobbled Jason Bay's grounder for one error then threw wildly past first baseman Pena for another. Bay took third on Mark Kotsay's single, but Coco Crisp ended the inning by grounding into a double play.
Crisp played for the first time in the series when center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was benched after going 0-for-14 in the first three games. Right fielder J.D. Drew replaced Ellsbury in the leadoff spot and flied out to left in his first two at-bats.
After a day off, the series resumes Thursday night at Fenway Park with Daisuke Matsuzaka facing Tampa Bay's James Shields in a rematch of the starting pitchers in Boston's 2-0 win in Game 1.
In Game 3, B.J. Upton and Rocco Baldelli hit three-run homers and Pena and Longoria added solo shots. The three homers in Game 4 gave the Rays 10 for the ALCS and 16 in their seven postseason games.
Wakefield's regular-season problems against the Rays continued. He was 0-2 after going 19-3 against them before this year.
Sonnanstine dominated the Red Sox both times he faced them this season, pitching seven scoreless innings on Sept. 10 and six shutout innings on Sept. 16.
