Schilling wins No. 14 as Papi, Red Sox nip Devil Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays employed a shift twice against David Ortiz that had four players in the outfield. The Boston Red Sox slugger beat it both times by hitting the ball over the outfielders.

Ortiz had his 25th two-homer game and Curt Schilling threw seven solid innings as the Red Sox beat the Devil Rays 3-2 on Friday night.

Boston is without several injured players, including catcher Jason Varitek and outfielder Trot Nixon.

"Everybody is taking responsibility," Ortiz said. "That's what we need right now. Do whatever it takes to win games."

Ortiz's second homer of the game, his AL-leading 39th this season, was a solo shot in the eighth inning off Seth McClung (3-11) that gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead. He also hit a solo homer in the fourth.

"We had it surrounded at least," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "It just disappeared. He's amazing. He truly is. The last time I've seen anything like that was [Barry] Bonds in the [2002] World Series, where if you made a mistake it absolutely melted. He doesn't miss a mistake."

When asked about the shift, Ortiz smiled and said it was a "bad decision."

Ortiz has four hits -- all homers -- in seven at-bats against McClung.

Schilling (14-4) gave up two runs and nine hits, walked two and struck out four. He became the major leagues' second 14-game winner, joining Detroit rookie Justin Verlander.

"Winning games like this can be momentum-changers," Schilling said. "David continues to be the best hitter in the game."

Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 33 opportunities. He is the fifth rookie ever to reach the 30-save mark.

"It was a great effort by everybody," Boston manager Terry Francona said.

Damon Hollins and Carl Crawford homered for the Devil Rays, who are 6-15 since the All-Star break.

Earlier Friday, the Red Sox obtained catcher Javy Lopez from the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named or cash considerations as Varitek, who arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Thursday. Lopez entered in the third inning as a pinch hitter for catcher Doug Mirabelli and struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch.

Mirabelli twisted his left ankle in the first inning when he tagged out a sliding Crawford, who was attempting to score from third on Greg Norton's infield single with two outs. Mirabelli was behind the plate in the second, but was pulled one inning later.

X-rays were negative, but Mirabelli is expected to miss at least several days. Francona said the Red Sox will add a catcher for Saturday's game.

Lopez hit into a double play in the fifth and finished 0-for-4 in his Red Sox debut. He did enjoy catching Schilling.

"It's so easy. He's a Cy Young winner, a veteran. It's a totally different feeling," he said. "I feel like when I was in Atlanta catching all those great guys."

Lopez will catch David Wells on Saturday.

"Hopefully I'll be a little more relaxed," Lopez said.

Schilling was hit on his throwing hand by B.J. Upton's one-hopper in the fourth. He shook the hand after being struck, but remained in the game after a couple of warm-up throws.

"It's all right," Schilling said. "It caught me right on the meaty part of the hand. It's not sore."

The Devil Rays took a 2-0 lead on the homers by Hollins, in the first, and Crawford, in the third. Both Hollins (13) and Crawford (15) matched their career highs.

Ortiz snapped an 0-for-10 slide with his fourth-inning homer to get the Red Sox within 2-1. He has four homers and 11 RBI over his past eight games.

Two wild pitches opened up first base and prompted the Devil Rays to walk Ortiz and Manny Ramirez intentionally and load the bases with one out in the sixth. Shawn Camp replaced starter James Shields and gave up Kevin Youkilis' game-tying sacrifice fly before striking out Wily Mo Pena.

Schilling struck out Upton and Tomas Perez to work out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the sixth.

Shields gave up two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven -- including Ramirez twice -- and walked two.

Ramirez singled in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, matching his career high.

Game notes
Tampa Bay LHP Scott Kazmir (left shoulder inflammation) had his return to the rotation pushed back from next Tuesday to Friday. "Everybody feels more comfortable with him pitching on the 11th," Maddon said. "They just felt he needed one more pen just to get back into his breaking ball a little more." ... Red Sox 3B Mike Lowell (sore left foot) didn't play. ... Devil Rays CF Rocco Baldelli (sore right hamstring) missed his second consecutive game. ... Schilling has allowed five homers in his last two starts.