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BOSTON -- Never one to take a lot of time between pitches, John Lackey had extra motivation to throw quickly and get out of the biting chill at Fenway Park. Discount Asics Shoes . Lackey pitched eight solid innings with temperatures in the low 40s as the Boston Red Sox beat the slumping Tampa Bay Rays 7-4 on Tuesday night. "I try to work fast," Lackey said. "Especially when its cold, Im trying to get guys in the dugout. It wasnt a whole lot of fun out there on the field today." Lackeys teammates showed their appreciation with a five-run rally in the sixth as the Red Sox opened a three-game series with a win over their AL East rivals. Shane Victorino drove in his first two runs of the season while going 4 for 4, hiking his batting average from .133 to .316. Victorino was playing in his fourth game after missing the first 22 with a hamstring injury. He singled in his first two at-bats, hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth and added an RBI double in the sixth. "We knew it was going to take a couple of games for him to get his feet on the ground," Boston manager John Farrell said. "He does give us a completely different dynamic in that 2-hole. When we can set the table for that middle of the order, weve got a chance to score some runs." Lackey (4-2) scattered six hits and allowed two runs, striking out five and walking one. After the Rays scored twice in the ninth, Koji Uehara came in and struck out Ben Zobrist on three pitches for his sixth save. Jackie Bradley Jr. had a pair of doubles and two RBIs as the Red Sox got 13 hits and won for the third time in four games. Xander Bogaerts was the only Boston starter without a hit. "It was good to see the evenness throughout the at-bats 1 through 9," Farrell said. The Rays lost for the seventh time in eight road games and are 4-9 away from home. Wil Myers had two hits and scored a run for the Rays. James Loney hit two doubles and joined Myers as the only Tampa Bay players with more than one hit. Both scored in the ninth on a throwing error by Bogaerts at shortstop. The Rays began the second leg of a 10-game road trip, which they started 1-3 in Chicago. Erik Bedard held Boston to one run through five innings, but the bullpen could not stop the Red Sox in the sixth. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said both starters had good command, but it was a tough night for relievers to sit through the frigid conditions and then have to pitch. "Bedard was good. I thought Lackeys command was good tonight," Maddon said. "Its hard. Its hard for both sides. The game was not meant to be played in this kind of weather. But youve got to fight through it." Brandon Gomes (1-1) started the sixth inning and immediately walked Mike Napoli and Jonny Gomes. Juan Carlos Oviedo took over with one out and fared no better. A.J. Pierzynski hit an RBI single, then Will Middlebrooks and Bradley hit back-to-back doubles. Bradleys shot to centre bounced off the wall in one of the deepest parts of Fenway Park, scoring Pierzynski and Middlebrooks easily. Bradley went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Victorinos ground-rule double. The Red Sox scored three more on three hits off Oviedo. Boston scored five times in the inning and sent nine batters to the plate. "Thats something that we normally dont do," Maddon said. "Were normally pretty good at minimizing damage. Weve got to do a better job of that." Bedard got his third no-decision in four starts. He allowed four hits, striking out four and walking three. Middlebrooks walked to start the fifth and went to third when Bradley doubled to centre. The Rays nearly got out of it when Dustin Pedroia lined out to third baseman Evan Longoria, who made a dive for the bag. Middlebrooks was diving in the other direction and barely beat the tag, then scored on Victorinos fly to centre to put Boston up 1-0. The Rays got the run back in the sixth when Desmond Jennings doubled with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Longoria. Ryan Hanigans single in the seventh drove in Myers, who led off the inning with a double that was just a few feet left of being a homer to centre. NOTES: Napoli has reached base in 24 of 25 games this season. ... It was the 28th anniversary of Roger Clemens first 20-strikeout game for Boston, when he broke the major league record for a nine-inning game against Seattle. ... Red Sox DH David Ortiz played in his 1,994th game. ... Tampa Bay played its 1,000th game since shortening the teams name to Rays in 2008. Asics Shoes Online Australia . Authorities in Medina, Minn., released the details one day after Cunningham was jailed for another alleged incident with the woman he had been living with for the previous eight months. Cunningham had already been charged with felony domestic assault for allegedly choking the woman last week. Buy Asics Shoes Online Australia . The rest of the team was already on the field stretching before batting practice while Puig was getting dressed in the clubhouse. He had been slated to start in right field for the afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants, who beat the Dodgers 8-4. http://www.cheapaustraliaasics.com/ . Justine finished first with a score of 22.44 while Chloe was second with 21.66 points. Defending champion Hannah Kearney of the U.S., was third at 21.49. A third Dufour-Lapointe sister, Maxime, failed to make the final group and finished 12th while Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was 10th. TORONTO -- It was the worst and lowest-paying job offer on the table. But Ryan Nelsen said yes to Toronto FC in January 2013, reckoning he could learn more from trying to resuscitate a perennial MLS loser than sit on a bench as an assistant coach at an English Premier League club. Twenty months later, Nelsens education in Toronto is over. General manager Tim Bezbatchenko, who inherited Nelsen as coach when he was hired last September, fired the former New Zealand international Sunday. In an interview with The Canadian Press last Wednesday -- when he suspected the axe was coming -- Nelsen mused about why he chose to become Torontos eighth coach in seven years. The biggest challenge is the most rewarding, he reasoned. "For me, my biggest enjoyment I get from work -- whether its in little business stuff or anything -- is to take something thats nothing or crap (and) build it into something thats respectable and good ... because thats where you learn the most," a relaxed Nelsen said while sitting in the sunshine at the clubs $20-million-plus training centre. "And once youve turned into something thats really good, then it doesnt have the same interest for me ... Then Ill probably move on." He never reached his goal in Toronto despite rebuilding the roster, earning the franchise much-needed respect and steering the club towards the playoffs for the first time. In axing Nelsen and five assistant coaches, Bezbatchenko cited the 9-9-6s teams disappointing record of late -- Toronto is 3-5-5 in its last 13 games. Greg Vanney, Bezbatchenkos assistant GM and academy director, took over as coach. In truth, the 32-year-old rookie GM had been at odds with Nelsen for some time. Bezbatchenko, a former league official described as "wicked smart" by MLS commissioner Don Garber, won a power play to rid himself of Nelsen and his assistant coaches. The coaching staff had been responsible for many of the teams recent deals, having filling a void left by the previous regime. Toronto went from being a franchise routinely fleeced to one Nelsen believed was one of the leagues "stealthiest." Bezbatchenko, who clearly was not on the same page as the coaching staff, was not willing to sit on the sidelines. A recent point of contention was the purchase of a pricey analytics service. Nelsen is not averse to analytics but saw the outlay -- and the front offices focus on numbers -- as somewhat out of whack given the teams success in horse-trading. Bezbatchenko and Vanney made a point Sunday of talking up the worth of analytics. In recent weeks, as Bezbatchenko flexed his muscle, Nelsen resisted -- only to see support from outgoing MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke fade. Leiweke once had Nelsens back, retaining "Nellie" as coach when he axed team president Kevin Payne in September 2013. "What I am certain of is that with respect to the way that we need to go as an organization, Ryan sees the world exactly the way we do," Leiweke said at the time. "Im supportive of Ryan. He will be our coach next year." That changed. Nelson, it appears, was on a short leash. "I was loyal to Nellie and I think Nellie was loyal to the organization," Leiweke said Sunday after the firing. "But that said, we always knew that there would be a pretty short window here as to if things went south, due to how competitive everything is. "And with that said the team obviously not only did not play well but really didnt show up." Leiweke has his own masters. And Toronto FC was his baby, with a playoff guarantee and buckets of money poured into his pet project. Even while headed to the MLSE door, Leiweke could not afford to see his team fail to deliver. Especially when the franchise, traditionally a cash generator, will lose money this season due to the megabucks lavished on star striker Jermain Defoe and midfielder Michael Bradley. Reminded that Toronto FC was one win away from tying the franchise record of 10, set in 2009, Leiweke replied: "Were also one game away from being out of the playoffs." Still Leiweke made a point of saying the decision to unseat Nelsen was Bezbatchenkos -- an employee he has jokingly referred to as Harry Potter. "This was a decision Tim made and I fully supported," Leiweke said. "You cant have a team quit on you. And its unfortunate and Im not sure its all Nellies fault. I think the team has to step up and accept some of the blame here too. But that said we cant let the season slip away. But that said and were going to do anything and everything we can to try and make the playoffs." Nelsen, not surprising, saw things differently. He believed his revamped team was headed in the right direction, but hitting dips or plateaus as it learned along the way. "Well kick on again and then well have our roadblocks where everyone will call us crap again," he said with a smile. "And next thing you know -- whatever time, and it will be in the future -- well be crushing teams and youll be going Oh you only won 3-0 today." Nelsen firmly believed that Toronto FC would be the class of the league next year. The manager did not go out quuietly. Asics Clearance Shoes Australia. . The night before his firing was announced, Nelsen lambasted Bezbatchenko for issuing a challenge to his club "to take it up a notch." In an astonishing rebuke to his superior, Nelsen essentially accused his GM of sabotaging his club by ratcheting up the pressure on the players. Nelsen, it should be noted, waited until he was asked about Bezbatchenkos comments before firing his broadside at the news conference following Torontos 3-0 loss to New England. On Sunday, Bezbatchenko dismissed Nelsens tirade as "excuses." Saturdays loss was a lacklustre performance, the kind that gets coaches fired. But there had been forces behind the scenes in the days leading up to the match. In hindsight, one can see Bezbatchenkos pre-game comments as piling the pressure on Nelsen and setting the stage for the firing. The GM chose his words carefully, ensuring he did not throw anyone under the bus. But it was nearby and the engine was running. Nelsens approach to the media was always more guarded and less Machiavellian. "In all honesty here, do you really think Im the same person in front of the media and in front of people I dont know as I am in the changing room with the guys I have to be with in day in and day out?" he said in 2013. "I mean its professional football, this is proper stuff, this is not a Sunday kickaround. "Theres ripple effects of whatever you say in the media." Still Nelsens raw reaction to Bezbatchenkos comments was not entirely unexpected. While captain at Blackburn Rovers, he spoke out against the ownership for failing to communicate properly with the players over the firing of manager Sam Allardyce. Nelsen, who had learned of the sacking via TV, was unceremoniously shown the door himself a little more than a year later. In hiring Nelsen, Toronto was taking a gamble on a player with no managerial experience. But Nelsen is driven. Not the most physically gifted athlete, he earned his keep at the highest levels on the field through hard work and smarts. And he had been planning for his move to the sidelines for years, observing other managers and making notes. Every training session in his first Toronto FC pre-season was planned weeks or months in advance. Nelsen also arrived with a substantial Rolodex, contacts that benefited Toronto FC greatly. His ties to QPR and manager Harry Redknapp -- not to mention MLSEs deep pockets -- resulted in the arrival of Defoe and Brazil No. 1 goalkeeper Julio Cesar, acquisitions that earned TFC worldwide coverage. Nelsens network, via an agent, also helped net Brazils Gilberto. On the minus side, Nelsen was stubborn at times. Players like veteran Canadian attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, a local favourite, simply fell off his radar. Given DeRos lack of playing time under Nelsen and Bezbatchenkos support of the player in the wake of Nelsens firing, one can guess whose signing that was. Nelsen, who kept his player opinions in-house, acknowledged he could improve in the area of management. "I think if you asked anybody theyd probably always tell you they could be a bit better. Its really hard because you have 23 guys who all want to play, so theres always going to be 12 pissed-off guys." He also rued the gap in sports science systems the club instituted going into this season, meaning the clubs fitness regimen started with a hiccup. Some things were out of his control. He did not particularly want to hold training camp in Florida again but the league was anxious to have its teams take part in the pre-season tournament there. Next year, he hoped to take the club to New Zealand to take advantage of the summer conditions and local opposition. But he feared such an adventure might be unfeasible, given the leagues looming labour negotiations. Shed no tears for Nelsen, whose canny business instincts have already led to his own winery and real estate holdings around the globe. He will land on his feet. "I wish the players all the success as they make the playoffs and I enjoyed every moment working with the other coaches putting the team together," Nelsen said in a text Monday to The Canadian Press. "Wish only success for TFC." Lost in the coverage of Nelsens departure is the 5-21-8 team he inherited at the beginning of 2013. "What we had in pre-season was probably the worst put-together squad in the history of the league," he said in December 2013. "It was that bad. It was actually terminal." In its 2013 transactions section, the MLS website lists 26 players going out the door at Toronto FC and 27 coming in. The 2014 list has 10 more players coming in and 17 leaving. Nelsen will look back at Toronto FC and wonder what might have been. "When youre on the outside, you just want to flick a switch, you just want everything to be great," he lamented last week. "Fans just want it to be great ... but no matter what, every team has to go through these little ups and downs." The clock is now on Bezbatchenko, who has his hand-picked coach and a looming void in the corporate structure above him. Toronto FC, warts and all, is his team now. ' ' '