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Monday, April 19, 2010

It's going to be a long summer


I'd like to tell myself that this is just a bump in the road, a rough start and nothing more. However, after the Boston Red Sox lost their fourth straight, 7-1 yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park to the Tampa Bay Rays, I do not feel good about the Sox' fortunes this season.

Tampa Bay (9-3), who have won six straight, and New York (9-3) are already five games ahead of the Red Sox and that appears to be the theme for this season: Boston will be looking up and chasing two better teams in their division.

The Rays used an excellent start from Matt Garza (3-0), who went eight scoreless innings and a pair of two-run homers from Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton. Garza struck out five, walked two and only allowed four hits.

Ben Zobrist also paced Tampa's dangerous lineup with two hits, two RBIs, two stolen bases and a walk.

It was another less than memorable April start for Jon Lester. The big lefty went six innings, allowing seven earned runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts. He fell to 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA.

The Sox will try to avoid the sweep today on Patriots Day as John Lackey opposes Jeff Niemann.

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