After a rain delay of 2 hours and 17 minutes, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees finally stepped onto the field to play some baseball.

And after Jonathan Papelbon made it interesting once again at the end, the Red Sox walked off the field at 1:10 AM with a 6-4 win in front of an announced crowd of 46,426 at the new Yankee Stadium.

The win for the Red Sox ends a 2-game slide that came at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays to raise their record to 16-10 and now sit a game behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. The loss for the Yanks was their second straight and they drop to 13-12 which puts them 3.5 games behind the Red Sox and in third place.

Jon Lester once again was a Yankee killer as he remains undefeated against them. He looked good on the mound despite a two bad pitches and a bad throw on a potential double play ball. Lester threw 111 pitches in 7 innings while allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while tying his career-high of 10 strikeouts.

Ramon Ramirez finally gave up an earned run as he gave up a hit and a walk in 1/3 of an inning. Papelbon came on for the final five outs of the game and didn’t make it look easy in picking up his 7th save of the season.

Jason Bay had himself quite a game for the visiting nine as he had three hits, including a home run, and added 2 RBIs.  Mike Lowell also had two hits that included a home run and had 2 RBIs while David Ortiz, yes Big Papi, had 2 hits (both doubles) and RBI to go with two walks (one intentional). Jacoby Ellsbury also had two hits and a stolen base.

The Red Sox did lose Kevin Youkilis to back stiffness during the game. He’s listed as day-to-day.

Phil Hughes got the start for the Yankees and only lasted 4 innings. He gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits and 4 walks with two strikeouts. Alfredo Aceves worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. Edwar Ramirez and Phil Coke finished it off for Joe Girardi’s Yankees.

Dustin Pedroia worked a 1-out walk in the 1st and went to third on a Big Papi double. With Youk at the plate, Pedroia  came into score on a Jose Molina passed ball to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.

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Sorry for the lack of updates today on the site, I had to take  care of a special project and then got a call to head to the shoreline to take care of something else. And I just got home to find out that tonight’s game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees is in a rain delay.

If you’re not paying attention to the game yet and want to, you can catch the game on NESN in the Red Sox television market, YES in the Yankees television market and on ESPN if you don’t live in either markets. And if the television isn’t your cup of tea, you can catch the game on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.

Jon Lester will be the first member of the Red Sox to pitch in the new Yankee stadium (weather permitting of course). Lester is 1-2 on the season with a 5.40 ERA. In his last time out, Lester received a no-decision against the Yankees despite allowing 2 runs on 7 hits with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts over 6.0 innings. In 5 career starts against the Yankees, Lester is 2-0 with a 3.34 ERA. In two starts at the old Yankee Stadium, Lester was 1-0 with a 0.57 ERA.

Phil Hughes makes just his second start for the Yankees after being recalled from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In his first start against the Tigers, he threw 6 scoreless innings to pick up the win. Hughes has made one career start against the Red Sox that came at Fenway Park where he was roughed up for 6 runs in just 2 innings of work.

Eck in the Booth on NESN [Fang’s Bites]

Lugo gets time to shape up; Francona chats with Ortiz [Extra Bases]

A-Rod might return Friday [Extra Bases]

Fashion statement? [Extra Bases]

Joba Chamberlain’s mother charged with selling meth [Projo Sox Blog]

Rocco begins rehab [Projo Sox Blog]

Change Of Scenery For Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry [Hartford Courant]

Baseball’s best rivalry takes new stage [RedSox.com]

Here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game:

And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers:

Monday, May 4^th @ 7:05 PM

Jon Lester (L) (1-2, 5.40) vs Phil Hughes (R) (1-0, 0.00)

TV: NESN, YES, ESPN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Tuesday, May 5^th @ 7:05 PM

Josh Beckett (R) (2-2, 7.22) vs Joba Chamberlain (R) (1-0, 3.13)

TV: NESN, YES, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Carl Crawford had six of the Tampa Bay Rays eight stolen bases to help them to a 5-3 win over the Boston Red Sox in front of 32,332 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL.

The Rays took 3-of-4 from the Red Sox this weekend and improved to 10-15 and helped themselves out of last place. The Red Sox drop to 15-10 on the season.

Brad Penny got the start for the Red Sox and didn’t pitch all that badly. Unfortunately for him, his one bad inning today came on a few lucky breaks for the Rays. Penny went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8.

Manny Delcarmen finally looked human as he allowed his first earned run of the season on 2 hits and 2 hit batters in just 1/3 of an inning. Hunter Jones continues to look unfazed although he gave up a run on a hit in an inning of work. The perfection of Ramon Ramirez continued as he allowed just a hit with a strikeout in 2/3 of an inning.

The Rays got another good start from James Shields against the Red Sox at the Trop.  He went 7 1/3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. He left to a standing ovation from the crowd. J.P. Howell was tagged for a run on 2 hits and a walk in 1/3 of an inning. Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival shut down the Red Sox over the final 1 1/3 innings.

The tablesetter for the Red Sox today was J.D. Drew who went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Kevin Youkilis added 2 hits, including a 2-run homer. Jacoby Ellsbury added 2 hits and a stolen base while Dustin Pedroia had the other Red Sox hit on the afternoon.

Shields retired Ellsbury on a ground out to start out the 1st inning and Pedroia followed with his only hit of the afternoon. Shields walked David Ortiz, who once again looked awful at the plate.  Youk singled to shallow left field to load the bases up and Drew followed with an RBI single to put the Red Sox up 1-0. Shields avoided any further damage by striking out Jason Bay and getting Mike Lowell to fly out.

The Rays got the run back in the bottom half of the inning though.

B.J. Upton grounded out for the first out and then Penny walked Crawford with Evan Longoria at the plate. Crawford promptly stole second and went to third on Varitek’s throwing error. Penny ended up hitting Longoria with a pitch and Carlos Peña followed with an RBI double to tie the game at 1. Penny got out of the inning though as he struck out Pat Burrell and Ben Zobrist.

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After winning their first game of the season in three tries at Tropicana Field, the Boston Red Sox will look to do something they haven’t done in a long time. And that’s not a lose a series to the Tampa Bay Rays.

The game will start at 1:38 PM this afternoon and the game will be televised on NESN. In the Tampa area, you can catch the game on FOX Sports Florida. If you’re not in the television broadcast area of the Red Sox and Rays, you can also catch the national broadcast on TBS. And if the television isn’t your cup of tea, you can catch the game on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.

In order to salvage a split of the 4-game set, the Red Sox will call upon Brad Penny (ugh!) to get the job done. Penny has been far from brilliant in his brief stint with the Red Sox and could need a big outing today to salvage his job. In 4 starts this season, Penny is 2-0 with a 8.66 ERA. He has faced the Rays four times (3 starts) in his career and sports a record of 1-2 with a 5.49 ERA. In one career start at the Trop, Penny is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA.

“Big Game” James Shields starts for Joe Maddon this afternoon. In five starts this season, Shields is 2-2 with a 3.74 ERA. In 9 career starts against the Red Sox, Shields is 2-5 with a 5.59 ERA. He’s been much better at home against the Red Sox where he is 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA five starts.

Speedster Ellsbury can run Sox to a split [RedSox.com]

David Ortiz Speaks [Projo Sox Blog]

Ortiz: ‘I will do things.’ [Extra Bases]

Here are this afternoon’s starting lineups:

And here is how the hitters have fared against this afternoon’s starting pitchers:

What’s that you say? The Boston Red Sox won a game at Tropicana Field? You can’t be serious?

Well it’s true, the Red Sox finally beat the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field last night. It’s just the 2nd win in their last 13 visits to the Trop so we’ll take it anyway we can.

It was up to the Red Sox ace of 2009 Tim Wakefield to keep the Red Sox in the game. Fortunately for him, he got some run support behind him. But he did run into some trouble in the 5th inning (why can’t we seem to escape the 4th or 5th inning lately without getting beat up). The bullpen was strong though as they backed up Wake’s effort and the offense got them some insurance runs down the stretch to give the Red Sox the win.

Now they’ll turn to, gulp, Brad Penny to try and pick up a split of the series this afternoon at 1:38 PM on NESN and TBS. Oh and if you’re fortunate enough to be getting the TBS broadcast, you”ll get another dose of Buck Martinez plus David Wells.

Hitting on all cylinders [Boston Globe]

‘W’ for Wakefield [Boston Herald]

Boston goes on the attack and outslugs Tampa Bay [Providence Journal]

For now, fill-in has plenty in reserve [Boston Globe]

Trop’s no longer friendly [Boston Herald]

Red Sox are to the Rays what the Yankees are to the Sox [Providence Journal]

Smoltz wanted to hit target [Boston Globe]

John Smoltz in good spirits [Boston Herald]

Reddick making his mark at the various Red Sox minor-league stops [Providence Journal]

Wells an analyst? Now we’re talking [Boston Globe]

Thief Jacoby Ellsbury retakes MLB lead [Boston Herald]

Matsuzaka and Baldelli to play in Pawtucket early next week [Providence Journal]

Ellsbury continues to steal the spotlight [Boston Globe]

Brad Penny needs a new angle [Boston Herald]

Bay OK [Extra Bases]

Ellsbury shows why it’s good to go for it [Boston Globe]

Carew Set Off Home Alarms In ’69 [Hartford Courant]

Decision was downright Maddon-ing [Tony Massarotti Blog]

For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and Providence Journal websites.

And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times websites.