The Rays pushed across a run in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead against Lester, who struck out five batters in the first two innings.
Akinori Iwamura sliced a double off The Wall to start the inning, the second Tampa Bay hit, and Jason Bartlett reached on an infield hit to shortstop. After failing to get down a bunt, Carl Crawford lashed a ball in the hole between first and second that first baseman Kevin Youkilis snagged. Youkilis gambled he could get a force at second but couldn’t. The throw hit the sliding Bartlett and ended up in shallow left field as Iwamura scored. Lester got Evan Longoria to rap into a double play and got out of the inning without further damage.