Devil Rays Hold Off BoSox

After blowing the save, Roberto Hernandez needed some help to get the victory Wednesday night.

Tampa Bay third baseman Aaron Ledesma made a great defensive play on Nomar Garciaparra's scorching grounder down the line to preserve the Devil Rays' 11-10 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Â"Ledesma saved the game,Â" Hernandez said. Â"Sometimes you need a little luck.Â"

Hernandez (1-3), who had given up a tying RBI single to Mike Stanley with two outs in the ninth, yielded a bases-loaded, sacrifice fly to Jose Offerman in the 10th. After a wild pitch put runners on second and third, Hernandez struck out Brian Daubach before Ledesma threw out Garciaparra to end the game.

Â"Come back, tie it. Come back, tie it again. It just didn't work out, that's all,Â" Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said.

Tampa Bay's Wade Boggs hit his first homer of the season and also singled against his former team, moving within 31 hits of 3,000. The Devil Rays won for the fourth time in five games.

A throwing error by third baseman Lou Merloni helped Tampa Bay take an 11-9 lead in the 10th against John Wasdin (7-1).

Â"It was the right play, the right decision,Â" Merloni said of his throw to second on Randy Winn's bunt. Â"What can I say? It doesn't matter now. I saw the replay, he (Jose Offerman) was on the bag. It turns out it cost us the game.Â"

Bubba Trammell homered, doubled and drove in four runs for Tampa Bay.

Â"I thought it was a gutsy performance by our team. It takes guts to overcome mistakes,Â" said manager Larry Rothschild.

Stocker's RBI triple keyed a four-run sixth that gave the Devil Rays a 9-5 lead. Right fielder Trot Nixon's error on Fred McGriff's single helped Tampa Bay.

Daubach hit an RBI double and Troy O'Leary had a two-run double in the seventh as Boston closed to 9-8.

Stanley homered in the fourth, his ninth of the season.

Notes: John Valentin was placed on the 15-day disabld list retroactive to June 26 with a head injury. The Red Sox recalled 3B Wilton Veras from Double-A Trenton. ... Garciaparra extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a ninth-inning single. ... Boggs is hitting .444 (12-for-27) at Fenway Park as a member of the Devil Rays. ... The Devil Rays made 32 errors in June, their most ever in one month.

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