4 Rays, 0 Sox

Not a hell of a lot you can do or analyze about this one. The Rays had David Price, the Sox did not. Price totally shut down the Sox offense going 8 innings and letting up 3 hits. Kyle Farnsworth had a perfect 9th and that's all she wrote.



The 3 hits by the Red Sox offense were, an Ellsbury triple, and a 2 singles from Pedroia and Youkilis. We may have been able to get a run if Ellsbury didn't try to score on a A Gon swinging bunt, but in the long run, it didn't matter much.



John Lackey was handed his first loss in seven starts as he gave up 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 3 walks, and struck out 7, over 6 2/3.



At least the Royals are up next.

Rays @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox are looking to avoid losing their 4 time in 5 games. Boston leads the majors with 649 runs, but has scored only 12 in its last four games. The good news is Lackey is on the mound, and when Lackey is on the mound the Red Sox score runs (average of 9.97 runs in his last 7 starts).



Going against Lackey is David Price. Price is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three starts versus the Red Sox this season, and is coming off a strong start in which he let up 1 run in 8 innings against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.



Lackey has also been pitching well going 6-0 with a 3.92 ERA in his last seven starts, but opponents are still hitting .325 off him since the All-Star break. I wish I could say I am a Lackey believer, but I am still not.



I think the Red Sox lose today. Lackey blows, and it's just a matter of time before he gets lit up. Plus the Sox are going to be playing without Ortiz who is out indefinitely because of bursitis in his right heel.



Rays win 8-4

Player of the Game: Longoria

Game starts at 1:35pm

3 Sox, 1 Rays (game 1), 6 Rays, 2 Sox

During the day game Jon Lester finally pitched like the player he can be. He went 7 innings, let up 1 run on 3 hits and struck out 8. Lester ran into some trouble early when a leadoff double to Desmond Jennings, who then stole third and scored on a groundout by Evan Longoria. Ben Zobrist followed that up with a double. However, Lester was untouchable after that when he retired 12 in a row.



The only offense for the Sox came in the 3rd when Jacoby Ellsbury hit a 3 run jack. Right now he has 21 (22 by the end of the night) home runs and 78 RBIs, pretty damn good if you ask me.



After that James Shields shut down the Sox offense, he only let up those hits in the 3rd and then nothing after that. Luckily the Sox only needed those 3 runs.



Bard and Pap took care of the 8 and 9, end of game.



GAME TWO

6 Rays, 2 Sox



No matter where Erik Bedard goes, the team fails to produce runs. Bedard gave up 1 earned run (3 total runs), in 6 innings and also struck out 6. I'll take that from my 3rd starter any day.



Jeff Neimann had the Sox number last night as he went the distance, giving up three hits and striking out ten. The only 2 runs were solo shots from Jason Varitek and Jacoby Ellsbury to keep the Sox around.



Matt Albers came in and quickly ruined any chance to come back as he was tagged for 3 earned runs.



Oh well, can't win them all.

Rays @ Red Sox Preview (Game 2)

In the 2nd game today the Red Sox have Bedard going against Jeff Niemann. Niemann has been red hot of late going 6-0 with a 2.17 ERA over his last nine outings. Not a lot of people talk about Niemann, but he is turning into a damn good pitcher, maybe the most underrated in the AL East.



Bedard has had a great career against the Rays going 11-4 with a 3.41 ERA, but is 0-1 with an 8.64 ERA against them this year. Bedard has been solid since joining the Sox, but we have yet to see him go more then 5 innings. It would be very helpful to the Red Sox overworked bullpen if he could do so.



Although Niemann has been very good lately I feel the Red Sox offense is just too much better then the Rays for me to pick against the Red Sox. On the season the Rays are only hitting .244 as a team while the Red Sox are hitting .281. It will be close, but I see the Red Sox winning game 2.



Red Sox win 5-4

Player of the Game: Gonzalez

Game starts at 7:10pm

Rays @ Red Sox Preview (Game 1)

The Red Sox have a doubleheader today. The first game has Jon Lester going against James Shields. Shields has had a hell of a year (11-9 2.80 ERA), but has struggled throughout his career at Fenway (1-7 with a 7.71 ERA in eight starts).



Lester is having a good year, but not a great year. One thing he has done is pitch well during the day going 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in six day starts. Lester has lost his last two starts, and the Rays have been hot of late winning 7 of their last 10 games.



One thing all Boston fans would like to see is Adrian Gonzalez get his power swing back. He has still been hitting for average, but hasn't had the power stroke (no HRs in August).



Red Sox win 5-3

Player of the Game: Gonzalez

Game starts at 1:05pm

1 Sox, 0 Rays

Thank God for Dustin Pedroia because I did not want to stay up any longer to be honest. It was 16 innings, 5 hours long and once Papelbon closed the door in the 16th, I could finally go to sleep.

This game shouldn't have gone this long to begin with, 1st the Tampa Bay relievers walked 10 batters, and in the 9th A Gon popped out in a clutch situation and in 10th he grounded out to the shift.

Josh Reddick made a stellar catch in the 10th robbing Justin Ruggiano that certainly would have been an extra base hit.

Josh Beckett and Jeff Niemann both looked great, giving up a combined 3 hits over 8 innings apiece. It's good to see Beckett is over that devastating "knee injury".

Red Sox @ Rays Preview

Thank God that All-Star break is over. I really couldn't care less about the HR Derby, who did and didn't show, or the All-Star game itself, so I am ready for the 2nd half to get going. Tonight be get Andrew Miller against David Price.

Tampa Bay has taken three of the first five games with Boston, one of them coming when David Price won 3-2 at Fenway after allowing two runs in 7 2/3 innings. Price is one of the best left handers in baseball, but is having a little bit of a down year by his standards. He is only 8-7 on the year and has an ERA of 3.70. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I guess we are just spoiled of what he can do.

Miller hasn't lost as a member of the Red Sox. He is 3-0 with a 3.57 ERA, and has been a very nice surprise especially with all the injuries the Sox have had to deal with. The one thing I would like to see from Miller is him getting deeper into games. So far this season he has yet to make it past the 6 innings marker. That can come in time though.

Boston has won six of the last nine meetings in Tampa. Even though they are going against an ace tonight I think Boston will win, as they seem to play up when the chips are stacked against them.

Red Sox win 5-4
Player of the Game: Pedroia
Game starts at 7:10pm

4 Sox, 2 Rays

The good news is that Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Darnell McDonald all knocked in runs and the Red Sox won again. The bad news is that Clay Buchholz left the game in the 5th after giving up 2 hits, 1 run and only threw 81 pitches. Daniel Bard retired all four batters he faced and closer Jonathan Papelbon worked through a ninth-inning jam to earn his 13th save in 14 opportunities.

The Sox got to David Price early as they seemed to have men on bases the 1st couple innings, but he was able to straighten out and only let up 3 earned runs.

I don't know the extent of Buchholz injury but lets hope he's ok, because the Sox can't afford another starter to go on the DL.

Red Sox @ Rays Preview

Lost in all the awesomeness of the Bruins last night was Beckett's almost perfect game. Boston's offense didn't really hit their stride once again last night, and it could be even thougher tonight as Buchholz goes again David Price.

Price is 3-1 with a 2.54 ERA in four starts versus Boston. He is one of the toughest lefties in the majors, and the Sox could have trouble with him tonight. Buchholz has had a hell of a career against the Rays going 3-2 with a 1.81 ERA, and has allowed three earned runs over 25 1/3 innings in his last four starts against the Rays.

Boston seems to play better when they are going against the best pitchers in the MLB. I think that continues tonight, and Sox get it down.

Red Sox win 6-3
Player of the Game: Pedroia
Game starts at 7:10pm

3 Sox, 0 Rays

Tim Thomas wasn't the only person who was shutting down a team last night, Josh Beckett pitched a hell of a game himself, 9 innings, 1 hit and 6 ks. Beckett was spectacular and is making an EARLY case for Cy Young considerations as he dropped his ERA to 1.86. Beckett picked up his sixth win and stuck out six Rays in the win.

Youk hit a 3 run bomb and that was pretty much all that happened. Beckett has been unstoppable.

Red Sox @ Rays Preview

The Sox blew that game last night. They had all the chances in the world, and they blew it. It looked like more of the team we saw in the beginning of the year, then the one we had been seeing recently. Obviously, you can't get too worked up since they are 9-1 in their last 10, but it was annoying.

Tonight, no one will be watching with the Bruins on, but it is a pretty good pitching matchup with Beckett going against Jeremy Hellickson. Hellickson is having a very nice rookie campaign for himself (7-4 with a 3.03 ERA), but he is coming off a rough outing against the Baltimore letting up 5 runs on 7 hits in 5 2/3 innings. The 24 year old has played the Sox once before and won going 5 1/3 innings allowing two runs.

Beckett has been the ace of the Sox staff. He might only have 5 wins, but he has the lowest ERA (2.06) in the MLB. Pretty impressive for a guy we were all worrying about before the season started. He improved to improved to 3-1 with a 1.81 ERA in his last seven starts letting up just 2 runs in 7 innings against the Yankees.

Beckett has been rolling and I don't see the Sox offense making the same mistakes tonight.

Sox win 6-1
Player of the Game: Beckett
Game starts at 7:10pm

4 Rays, 0 Sox

Tim Wakefield has been exceeding expectations since joining the starting rotation. He keeps the game within striking distance and gives the bullpen a decent rest. He went 7 innings and only gave up 2 runs. I don't fully understand why they are replacing him with Andrew Miller next week. Last night we have seen we saw something we haven't seen in a while, the Sox bats go quite. James Shields pitched a masterful game as he went the distance and struck out 5.

This game was pretty boring and was wrapped up in under 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The Sox are 0-3 against the Rays.

Red Sox @ Rays Preview

The Red Sox are 0-2 against the Rays this year, but haven't played them since April, and man have things changed. The Sox are riding a 9 game winning streak in which they are averaging 9.2 runs per game. That's just silly.

The Rays are no pushovers though and tonight it could be very tough to get to 10-0. The Rays have James Shields on the mound and even though his record is 5-4 he has an incredibly impressive ERA of 2.85 and 93 Ks in 94.2 innings. Shields hasn't had much success against the Sox (5-9 with a 5.17 ERA), and the Rays just don't seem to score when he is on the mound (AL-low average 1.19 runs of support at home).

Wake is on the hill for the Sox, and he has been everything they have been looking for in a 5th starter. The ageless knuckleballer is 3-0 with a 4.32 ERA in his last four starts. You really can't ask for much more then that.

Obviously the big story line is it's Crawford's first game back in Tampa. I think he has a strong game, and Ortiz and Gonzalez keep raking.

Red Sox win 7-5
Player of the Game: Ortiz (.364 3 HRs against Shields)
Game starts at 7:10pm

Longoria Nears Return

"Evan Longoria's long-awaited return to the Tampa Bay Rays' lineup is now set for Tuesday against Toronto, barring any setbacks, reports Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times. Longoria, who has been on the disabled list since the first week of the season with a left oblique strain, took batting practice in the cage again Tuesday and will start a short rehab assignment with Double-A Montgomery on Thursday (ESPN)."

Much has been made about the Red Sox turnaround, but the Rays have also been playing a lot better after a very slow start (7-3 in their last 10 games). That's pretty impressive since they have had to do it without Longoria in their lineup. The Rays have the pitching staff to be a very good team, but I still question (even with a health Longoria) if they have the lineup to challenge for the top spots in the AL East.

Rays @ Red Sox Preview

I doubt they will play tonight, and maybe that's a good thing.

The Rays put James Shields on the hill against John Lackey. Lackey has a win, but has been horrible (15.58 ERA), and I really don't see him playing better anytime soon. Maybe I have just gone sour, but what about his game gives you confidence? No matter what Lackey will let up at least 4 runs, and right now Boston's offense is not good enough to overcome that.

I can point to three people that are truly causing this offensive debacle. Ellsbury, Crawford, and Youk. Ellsbury was supposed to be the leadoff hitter, but he hasn't shown a ability to get on the bases, which makes him completely not affective. Thus, Tito dropped him to the bottom of the order. Crawford took over the top spot in the order and is batting less then .150. He seems completely not confident in himself, and even when he gets on base he makes bone headed mistakes like getting picked off. Then there is Youk, who is our cleanup hitter and is hitting .182. He used to be one of the best hitters with runners in scoring position, but has done nothing this year. At least with Youk he still walks, but that's not good enough if you're batting 4th.

So, yes I am going to pick the Rays, and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe the Sox need us all to stop acting like nothing is wrong. Right now, they have 2 SPs that you can't see pitching well (Lackey, Dice-K), two question marks (Buccholz, Beckett), and an ace (Lester). A lineup that has a bunch of holes, and a coach that seems to be panicking. I guess you can say the backend of the bullpen has looked good, but that's about it.

Rays win 7-4
Player of the Game: Fuld
Game starts at 7:10PM

Rays 3, Red Sox 2

This just gets worse and worse. You knew this would be a pitcher's duel, you knew it would be tight, but watching this offense still hurts. Crawford's struggles are beyond a slump. Same with Youkilis. It's psychological, or physical, or physiological. It's not a run of the mill, ordinary slump.

Lester was good, apart from the 5th inning. And even though he allowed 3 runs off 4 hits in that frame, the Rays were hardly knocking him around. It's Lester's second Quality Start in a row, and the second time the Sox have failed to win with such a start.

One of the few bright spots has been the performance of Jed Lowrie. He hit a pair of doubles and knocked in a run. He's now hitting .438. There's no reason he shouldn't be starting every day, at least until he's cooled off.

The Sox are now in danger of being swept for the 3rd time this season. John Lackey takes the mound to face James Shields. I'm rooting for the rain.

-The Commodore

Rays @ Red Sox Preview

Well, I was certainly wrong about last game, but I guess that's what I get for trusting Dice-K. Tonight it's Jon Lester vs. David Price which will be one of the better pitching matchups of the season. I know the Rays broke out last game, but Dice-K was throwing every pitch down the middle and at the point Wakefield is some odd charity case the Red Sox feel like keeping around. Tonight will be different.

I have all the confidence in the world that Lester will shutdown the Rays, but the question is whether or not the Sox can get going vs Price. They were able to against Sabathia, and one would think this would be another "pride" game for the Sox, after getting their ass whooped. Price went 2-1 with a 2.61 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox last season, and I expect him to have a great outing tonight. The difference is Boston has better hitters and will be able to squeak out a very close game tonight.

Boston wins 3-2
Player of the Game: Pedroia
Game starts 7:10pm

Rays 16, Red Sox 5

It took Tampa Bay 5 games before they scored 7 runs. Daisuke allowed that many in 2 innings. Everything he threw was a meatball, with no action, no bite, it was essentially batting practice for the Rays.

The people that think Daisuke is a good pitcher really baffle me. They allude to his 18 win season. But if any normal player came up through the minors, had a decent rookie year, then had an 18 win sophomore campaign, then struggled for two years, we'd dismiss them as washed up. As Brian Rose redux. Why is Daisuke any different?

He's just not a good pitcher. He doesn't throw strikes. He needs 20+ pitches to get out of an inning. He taxes the bullpen. And who knows if he's healthy or hurt?

That's pretty much all there is to say about this game.

Jon Lester faces David Price tonight.

-The Commodore

Rays @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox got their first series win when they took down the Yankees in amazing game, still they are only 2-7, but tonight they face a Rays team that only has one win. One would hope that Yankees series will be the turnaround for the Sox, and I think it will be.

The Rays have Hellickson on the hill, and this kid is going to be a stud. Says that, he is still very young, and a right hander which the Sox should be able to handle very easily. The Sox have been able to collect a lot of hits over the past couple of game, but the key is to get hits with runners in scoring position. Guys like Ortiz, and Youk need to bring their game to the next level and bring in those key runs when players are in position.

Obviously, you never know when what you are going to get from Dice-K, but I like the matchup a lot. Longoria is out, and the rest of the lineup isn't doing very well. Honestly, the only guy who scares me at all is B.J. Upton. I actually see Dice-K having a really strong game. Something like 6 innings 1 run with a bunch of K's.

Red Sox win 7-3
Player of the Game: Ortiz
Game starts at 7:10pm

Manny Ramirez Retires

Manny Ramirez abruptly retired from baseball after another failed drug test for PED, he would rather have retired than serve the 100 day ban. How will I remember Manny Ramirez? I will think of him as a Hall Of Famer (If you read this site, you will know I completely dismiss Steroid or PED when talking HOF), A 2 time champion, I will think of him as the best right hander that's ever played, I will think of him as an asshole, and most importantly I will remember his numbers. Nobody can argue 2,574 hits, the 555 homers, the .585 career slugging percentage, the .996 OPS. Only two other people have put up numbers that gaudy Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds.

So all the people who question his credentials and how he got them can shove it. As much as Manny Ramirez was a pain in the ass for us as Red Sox fans, he was an all time great and should be looked at as that. The Hall Of Fame should be waiting for you Manny and if it's not, it's a travesty.