Paps joins 30-30 club; Boston's closer invents pitch in earning his save.

Byline: Bill Ballou

COLUMN: Red Sox Notes

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Jonathan Papelbon is Boston's first 30-30 relief pitcher, as in recording 30 saves more than once.

Last night was his 30th of 2007. He had 35 last year before an arm injury ended his season with a month to go.

Billy Koch, Kaz Sasaki and Todd Worrell are the only other pitchers with 30 or more saves in both of their first two seasons in the majors.

"I do honestly feel that I was meant to be a closer," Papelbon said during a discussion about the merits of his being in the starting rotation. He was a starter, briefly, during spring training before going back to his rookie role.

"That was so far (back), and so boring," he remembered. "I was really dying a slow death in spring training."

Last night, Papelbon turned inventor, as well. One of his pitches was described on the Tropicana Field scoreboard as a "slutter," a mix of a slider and cutter. When asked about it, Papelbon went into a complex lecture about hand and finger position.

Catcher Jason Varitek was asked about Papelbon's instructional conversation and replied, "I let Pap talk about Pap. Pap's like Rickey (Henderson)."

Except that Henderson probably couldn't hit a slutter.

Ortiz takes three

In the off-season, while David Ortiz is having a tuneup on things like his shoulder and knees, maybe he should get air brakes, too.

The sight of Ortiz thundering around second base, heading for a triple, is a rare one but was on the menu last night as he slugged his first three-bagger of the year in the first inning.

Ortiz ripped a liner to left-center and just did beat the throw into third.

It was his first triple since last Sept. 8; Ortiz' triples are memorable because of how hard he has to work to get them, but he has hit nine in his five seasons in Boston, which is more than Manny Ramirez has hit (6) in seven seasons with the Sox.

Sox pick up Carter

The Red Sox have received Chris Carter as the player to be named later in the Wily Mo Pena trade. Carter came from the Washington Nationals after being acquired from Arizona, making the Pena deal a three-way swap.

An outfielder-first baseman, Carter is 24, 6-foot-0, 225 pounds and has never played in the major leagues, although he spent spring training in both 2006 and 2007 with the Diamondbacks. He played college baseball at Stanford, then moved up quickly in the Arizona farm system.

Carter bats and throws left-handed. He had spent the entire season with Tucson of the Triple A Pacific Coast League where he batted .324 with 18 homers and 84 RBIs. Carter has been assigned to Pawtucket and is not on Boston's 40-man roster.

Dice-K throws in finale

Daisuke Matsuzaka starts for Boston tonight as the series closes. Matsuzaka will try to bounce back from one of his poorest starts of the season, a 6-5 loss to the Devil Rays at Fenway on Aug. 15. He gave up six earned runs in six innings in that game.

Boston is 8-2 vs. Tampa Bay this season and Matsuzaka has been the losing pitcher in both defeats. He is just 3-4 with a 4.38 ERA in his last seven starts.

The Devil Rays will counter with Edwin Jackson, who at 3-12, 5.69 is one of the least effective starters in the league.

No passed ball for Cash

Kevin Cash's passed ball in the first inning of Monday night's game was wiped off the books. It happened on a strikeout of Carl Crawford, and scoring rules say a passed ball can not be given in that situation. So, Cash's record is clean and the Sox have gone 57 games since their last passed ball.

In that game, the three Boston pitchers - Tim Wakefield, Manny Delcarmen and Mike Timlin - combined to throw only 96 pitches, the fewest in a nine-inning Sox victory since May 10, 1998. In that game, a 3-1 game in Kansas City, Wakefield and Tom Gordon threw just 94 pitches.

Time of game was 2:08.

Monday night's shutout was the Sox' seventh shutout on the road this season, most in the majors. Boston did not have a road shutout last year.

Diamond Dust

Coco Crisp's double with the bases loaded in the fourth made him 8 for 16 (.500) in that situation this season. Crisp has two doubles, a triple and homer with the bases full. ... Mike Lowell was hit on the left wrist in the fourth inning. The contact sounded ugly and Lowell was in obvious pain, but stayed in the game. His batting glove has a pad on it right where the ball struck. ... Doug Mirabelli will join the team at some point on this trip, either in Chicago or New York. Mirabelli is still wearing a "boot" on his right leg and is not doing any baseball-related activities. ... Kevin Youkilis' strikeout in the third extended his whiff streak to 13 games. His double in the first was his first extra base hit since Aug. 7. ... Manager Terry Francona is selling his used SUV to team psychologist Don Kalkstein. Francona, not a big car guy, said Kalkstein wants the vehicle because he knows it has never been driven faster than 60 mp. ... Junior Achievement lifetime achievement honoree Colleen O'Brien of Charlton has been chosen to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Red Sox game at Fenway Park on Sept. 26. ... No Boston runner has stolen a base in nine games, but only three Boston batters have grounded into double plays in that same span. ... The pregame entertainment included a semi-impersonation of Frank Sinatra singing "High Hopes."

NAME: BOSTON RED SOX