The Longest Losing Streak In 20 Years For the Red Sox Deserves a Mention

Believe me, there have been so many times in the last few weeks that I have wanted to write a Red Sox post but by the time their game ends (in a depressing loss), I am so disgusted that I don't bother. Well after losing 8-5 to the Rays this afternoon at Tropicana Field, I feel like I need to acknowledge Boston's (20-29 overall, 10-12 away) worst losing streak (10 games) in 20 years.

Tampa Bay (23-28 overall, 12-14 home) started the weekend series in last place in the pathetic AL East but after sweeping the Red Sox, they are now two games ahead of them. If that wasn't all bad enough, Boston became a disgrace (and I don't throw that word around lightly) in today's series finale by taking exception to stupid Yunel Escobar and starting one of those lame "baseball brawls."

Jonny Gomes was the main culprit for Boston as he came over and tried to get at Escobar who had been yelling and pointing in Boston's dugout after stealing third up 8-3 in the seventh (who cares?). Gomes could be suspended which wouldn't help the Red Sox who also put Mike Napoli on the DL earlier in the day with his finger injury (which surprise surprise hasn't magically worked itself out). There are many things in life I have no use for and baseball's unwritten rules along with fake tough guys (Gomes, Escobar, A.J. Pierzynski) are enough to make me cringe.

During the losing streak, Boston has been swept by Detroit, Toronto and Tampa Bay. This series was particularly painful since as I mentioned, the Rays are equally terrible plus Boston lost on a walk-off hit on Friday (1-0), on an error in the 15th inning on Saturday then capped off by this monstrosity. It's reached the point, much like 2012, where I tune in solely to see what new way they'll find to lose a game.

Brandon Workman made his first start of the season, taking Felix Doubront's place. He went five innings and allowed three earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks. The issue, as it's been for much of this slide, has been Boston's awful offense. The immortal Jake Odorizzi went six innings and held them to one earned run on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Brock Holt gave Boston a short-lived 1-0 lead in the third with a sacrifice fly. Tampa Bay scored twice in the fourth on Evan Longoria's (3 for 5, 2 runs) solo homer and an RBI single by Logan Forsythe. Two runs came across in the fifth for the Rays on ground outs.

Before he had to be a hero, Gomes actually did something useful on the field with a two-run homer in the seventh (his 5th of the season) that tied it at three. The wheels came off for the Red Sox in the seventh as light-hitting Sean Rodriguez crushed a three-run homer and Escobar added a two-run double. Xander Bogaerts (2 for 4, double) had a two-run single in the ninth but that meant absolutely nothing.

All we keep hearing is that it's still early and the Red Sox are better than this. Fair enough but no team has lost 10 games in a row then won the World Series that same season. I don't know what it would be specifically but if things don't improve drastically, like in the next few days, it's up to GM Ben Cherington to make a big trade to shake things up. Otherwise, this team is going nowhere and it promises to be a miserable summer.

It is a funky schedule this week as they play two in Atlanta (28-21 overall, 1st in NL East) starting tomorrow afternoon (1:10, NESN) then host the Braves for two games at Fenway Park followed by three games next weekend at home vs. Tampa Bay. Another win before May ends would be nice. Clay Buchholz (2-4) faces Ervin Santana (4-2) tomorrow at Turner Field followed by Jon Lester (4-6) vs. Aaron Harang (4-4) on Tuesday (7:10, NESN).

UPDATE 5/26: The Red Sox sent Alex Wilson back to Pawtucket and called up catcher/1st baseman Ryan Lavarnway (with Napoli out).

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No Reason To Panic, Yet. Red Sox Suffer Crushing 5-4 Walk-off Loss to Rays in Game 3

I think all rational Red Sox fans (an oxymoron if there ever was one) understood that they were playing with house money up 2-0 on the lifeless Rays. At least that's what I tell myself to help dull the pain of tonight's 5-4 win by Tampa Bay in Game 3 of the ALDS at Tropicana Field. Game 4 is back at that dump tomorrow night (8:37, TBS) as Jake Peavy faces Jeremy Hellickson.

If you picked the most unlikely scenario for the Rays to live to see another day, it couldn't top what actually happened: backup catcher Jose Lobaton hit a walk-off homer against Koji Uehara. Wait, what? There were plenty of twists and turns, what you'd expect from a nine-inning game that lasted 4:19 (!), but the bottom line is that this was a win that Boston let slip away.

They were up 3-0 in the fifth with unofficial ace Clay Buchholz (6 innings, 3 earned runs, 7 hits, 5 strikeouts, 3 walks) on the mound. That should be more than enough against the offensively-challenged Rays. Especially when they continue to give runs away like candy on Halloween (sort of topical!). Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits, 2 runs, double, stolen base) scored in the first on Ben Zobrist's error and he made it 2-0 in the fifth on Alex Cobb's (5 innings, 3 runs, 2 earned, 5 hits, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks) wild pitch.

I'm not going to pretend I thought it was over when David Ortiz laced an opposite field RBI single later in the fifth for a 3-0 lead but I felt confident. There are always a boatload of decisions to second-guess when it comes to losses in the MLB playoffs and this was no different for Boston. No. 1 on the list was the choice to pitch to Evan Longoria-Tampa Bay's only dangerous hitter-with runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth. What do you know, he went deep to tie it at three.

The Rays actually pushed ahead 4-3 with a ground out by Delmon Young in the eighth but the Red Sox showed their toughness by tying it in the ninth with a ground out by Dustin Pedroia against shaky closer Fernando Rodney.

Tampa Bay had four more hits (11-7) than Boston led by James Loney (3 for 3, double, walk), David Dejesus (2 hits, double, run) and Yunel Escobar (2 hits, run). No team in MLB successfully gets more out of scrubs than the Rays, it's remarkable year after year.

Naturally we'll spend Tuesday completely miserable and wallowing in all the mistakes by the Red Sox, conveniently forgetting that they are still in control up 2-1 with home-field advantage (hopefully they don't need it). It would have been much easier to get rid of the Rays this evening but they're not the Braves; they have pride and heart so it'll take a big effort to knock them out.

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Red Sox Outlast Rays 7-3 in 10 innings thanks to Carp's Pinch-Hit Grand Slam

Tune into a Red Sox game on almost any given day or night and odds are that this season you'll them do something spectacular. Tonight, Boston (89-58 overall, 42-33 away) beat Tampa Bay (78-66 overall, 44-28 home) 7-3 in 10 innings at Tropicana Field. Koji Uehara (4-0) set a team record as he has now retired 34 consecutive batters while ho hum Mike Carp cranked the first pinch-hit grand slam in extra innings in Red Sox history.

The win put Boston 9.5 games up on the Rays which means that the race for the AL East is all but officially over. It also helps that the Red Sox are 12-6 vs. Tampa Bay this season with just tomorrow night's game remaining in the regular season at least. Ryan Dempster (5 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts) was OK but the real story in terms of pitching for the Red Sox was Franklin Morales (1-2-3 6th), Uehara and Junichi Tazawa (scoreless 10th inning).

The Rays handed the Red Sox their first two runs in the third inning when Wil Myers bungled Mike Napoli's sinking liner into a two-run double. Daniel Nava's (2 hits) ground out scored David Ortiz (2 walks, 2 runs) to make it 3-0 good guys. David Dejesus got Tampa Bay on the board in the home half of the third with an RBI double. Evan Longoria (double, walk) cut it to 3-2 with an RBI double in the seventh and former Red Sox great James Loney tied it with a solo homer off Brandon Workman in the eighth.

Roberto Hernandez (don't call him Fausto Carmona) had the honor of giving up Carp's ninth home run of the season, which came on the first pitch he saw. Batting leadoff for the second straight game, Dustin Pedroia reached base three times (2 singles, walk, 2 runs). Boston has already clinched another series win and they continue to open up their lead on other AL contenders (5 more wins than Detroit and Oakland) for the best record in the league.

Jake Peavy (11-5) takes on Jeremy Hellickson (11-8) tomorrow (7:10, NESN) in the series finale. The Rays desperately need a win since they've gone 3-7 in their last 10 games and the Yankees have pulled within a game of their spot as the second AL Wild Card. What's more, the Indians and Orioles are only 1.5 games back and the Royals are just two games behind Tampa Bay.

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Red Sox Can't Beat David Price or Jerry Meals

In any sport, I hate to blame the refs/umpires/officials since I think it's a juvenile thing to do that's both lazy and petty. However, once in a while you have to acknowledge particularly awful calls. Tonight in a makeup game from last Thursday's rain out, Tampa Bay (63-43 overall, 29-24 away) beat Boston (63-44 overall, 34-20 home) 2-1 at Fenway Park. This put the Rays back on top in the AL East by a half game over the Red Sox.

David Price (6-5) was excellent for the second time in a week against the Red Sox: 7.1 innings, 1 earned run on 2 hits with 8 strikeouts. Felix Doubront's (7-5) old and bad habit of racking up pitches early crept back into his game as he only last five innings because he threw 104 pitches.

The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Sean Rodriguez's RBI double that scored Yunel Escobar (2 for 3). Wil Myers' (single, walk, stolen base) fielder's choice made it 2-0 in the following frame. Evan Longoria was 2 for 5 with a double and run.

Getting a rare start, Brandon Snyder cut it to 2-1 in the sixth inning with a sliced shot off Pesky's Pole in right. The controversial play happened in the eighth as Daniel Nava was called out on what would have been a sacrifice fly by Snyder. It was a bang bang play at the plate but replays showed that Nava's foot touched the plate before he was tagged. John Farrell was thrown out for arguing the bogus call which home plate umpire Jerry Meals later admitted was a mistake on his part. Nava also deserves some blame from the previous play when he should have scored a run on Stephen Drew's double to right.

Boston threatened in the ninth as Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single, stole second base and eventually ended up at third base with Jose Iglesias (who pinch ran for David Ortiz) on second. Fernando Rodney struck out Mike Napoli to end it for his 26th save of the season.

Even though they lost on what should have been an off day, the Red Sox catch a break with six more games at Fenway during this homestand against teams from outside the AL East that they need to beat: 3 vs. Seattle (50-55, 3rd in AL West) and 3 vs. Arizona. Tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) Brandon Workman (0-1) faces Joe Saunders (9-9). On Wednesday (7:10, NESN) hours after the non-waiver trade deadline passes, John Lackey (7-8) takes on Hisashi Iwakuma (10-4). Finally, Thursday (7:10, NESN) Ryan Dempster (6-8) battles Felix Hernandez (11-4).


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Jon Lester Proves That He Can Still Bring It, For 1 Game At Least

He hasn't pitched like a top of the rotation guy for months but tonight Jon Lester (9-6) showed that he can still get the job done against a quality opponent in a big game. Boston (61-41 overall, 34-18 home) beat Tampa Bay (59-42 overall, 25-23 away) 6-2 at Fenway Park to improve to 10-4 against the Rays this season and push them back to 1.5 games ahead for first place in the AL East.

In one of his better outings of the season, Lester went 6.1 strong innings and allowed only two earned runs (both on homers) on seven hits with a season-high eight strikeouts and no walks.

Super rookie Wil Myers (double) gave the Rays an early 1-0 lead with a solo shot over the Monster in the second. Boston responded with single runs in the second, third and fifth inning. Mike Carp tied it with an RBI single and Shane Victorino (double) stole home after Dustin Pedroia stole second base and Rays shortstop Yunel Escobar bobbled the throw. The new $100 million dollar man-Pedroia-added a sacrifice fly for the 3-1 Red Sox lead.

Evan Longoria cut it to 3-2 with a mammoth homer to center in the sixth. Boston gave themselves more breathing room in the eighth thanks to Stephen Drew's (run, stolen base) clutch RBI single (yes I really just used clutch and Stephen Drew in the same sentence) and two runs came home on Jose Iglesias' infield single.

The Red Sox bullpen was brilliant as they all completed their jobs perfectly. Matt Thornton got an out against the one batter he faced, Junichi Tazawa recorded four outs (3 on strikeouts) then closer Koji Uehara had a 1-2-3 9th inning with two strikeouts in the non-save situation.

Mike Napoli (2 for 4 with 2 runs, double), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2 for 4 with double, walk) and David Ortiz (2 for 4) all had multiple hits as Boston bounced back from a two-hitter last night with 12 hits this evening.

Tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) should be a good matchup as Felix Doubront (7-3) takes on reigning AL Cy Young winner David Price (4-5) who recently returned from the DL.

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When The Red Sox Needed Him Most, Jon Lester Completely Let His Whole Team Down

After surviving a 14-inning game on Monday (a 10-8 win where they used eight pitchers), the Red Sox desperately needed a long outing from Jon Lester tonight. He didn't have to throw a gem, it was more about eating up innings and giving the bullpen a night off. Instead, Lester (6-3) couldn't get out of the fifth inning as he allowed seven earned runs in a 8-3 win by the Rays (35-29 overall, 20-12 home) at dumpy Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay hit four home runs as the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona, now called Roberto Hernandez (4-6) beat a team that his alter ego used to always struggle against. Hernandez went seven innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Other than Jacoby Ellsbury (2 for 5 with 2 runs, stolen base) and Jose Iglesias (2 for 4 with run), nobody on Boston (40-26 overall, 19-12 away) could really get it going at the plate.

The Red Sox actually led twice, very briefly, in the early innings. Dustin Pedroia had a sacrifice fly in the first but former Red Sox great James Loney tied it with a bases loaded walk in Tampa Bay's first at bat. Lester walked four Rays in the first, an awful start for his pitch count that he could never recover from.

Desmond Jennings (3 hits, 3 runs) had a solo homer to center in the second but Mike Napoli's two-run single in the third put Boston back on top 3-2. It was all downhill from there as the Rays scored twice in the third (RBI singles from Ryan Roberts and Jose Molina) before Evan Longoria hit a solo homer to right in the fourth and Matt Joyce (2 hits, walk) ended Lester's night with a two-run blast to right.

Poor Jose De La Torre was summoned for only his third appearance of the season (first since being recalled) and he was greeted with another solo shot by Jennings. He deserves credit though for finishing the game so no other pitchers had to come in for Boston.

It's only fitting that since nobody will watch tomorrow night's game (7:10 p.m., NESN), Alfredo Aceves (2-1) faces rookie Chris Archer (1-1) in the gross series finale. Both teams want that series victory but I predict I won't see any of it or at least care one bit since the Bruins and Blackhawks are facing off in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals (8 p.m., NBC). Baseball can wait for another (slower) day.

UPDATE 6/12: Aceves takes De La Torre's spot on the roster and the rookie goes back to Pawtucket.

UPDATE 6/14: Pedro Ciriaco was traded to the Padres for a player to be named later or cash. Needing another reliever, the Red Sox sent Alex Wilson back to Pawtucket and called up Rubby De La Rosa.

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Bobby Valentine Will Take Out Daniel Bard When He Damn Well Pleases

The Boston Red Sox won three out of four this weekend against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was a nice first series at Fenway Park this season but you got the feeling this afternoon that they could have had more.

The Rays (5-5, 2-5 away) avoided the sweep with a tight 1-0 win against the Red Sox (4-6, 3-1 home) on Patriot's Day.

It was the first game since May 1, 2009 (Dodgers-Padres) when the lone run was scored on a bases-loaded walk (thanks ESPN Stats and Info). Daniel Bard (0-2) was clearly on the ropes, over 100 pitches and having walked two guys sandwiched around a single to load the bases in the seventh. For some stupid reason, Bobby Valentine thought that his converted reliever should face another batter and as it turned out, that's why they lost. Bard walked Evan Longoria, scoring Sean Rodriguez with the winning run.

Bard's final line was 6.2 innings, allowing one run (earned) on four hits with seven strikeouts and seven walks. Justin Thomas deserves props for getting Luke Scott to fly out to end the seventh with the bases loaded. He also threw a scoreless eighth.

James Shields (2-0) continued to show why he's one of MLB's best pitchers, even though he gets zero hype or attention (probably a product of playing in Tampa Bay). He went 8.1 innings, allowing four hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Desmond Jennings led the Rays with two hits (double), a stolen base and a walk.

Mr. Tilted Brim aka Fernando Rodney recorded his fourth save of the season by getting the last two outs. He survived a walk and he was able to strike out Cody Ross (2 hits) to end it. It would have been nice to see Ross swing the bat in that situation but all three called strikes in his at bat weren't even borderline, they were balls. I don't blame him at all for freaking out at umpire Larry Vanover after it was over.

The schedule doesn't ease up at all this week for the Red Sox as the Rangers and Yankees both come to Fenway. The two-time defending AL Champions from Texas are here for two, starting tomorrow night with Colby Lewis taking on Jon Lester. Can Boston please score a few more runs for Lester and get him a win? Is that too much to ask?

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In 2011, The Rays Are Just A Better Team Than The Red Sox, Period

I've said it all season (look it up) and with one game left in the season series, it's no time to stop beating the same repetitive drum: the Tampa Bay Rays are simply better than the Boston Red Sox in 2011.

By taking today's game 4-3 at Fenway Park, the Rays' (84-67) starting pitching continued to completely nullify the Red Sox' (87-64) superior lineup and as a result, they are 11-6 against Boston this year.

Tampa Bay has climbed to within three games of the AL Wild Card and they'll have a very good chance to chip it down to two tomorrow afternoon as David Price faces Tim Wakefield.

For the second time in a week, Jon Lester (15-8)-Boston's ace-failed to beat the Rays in a huge game. He battled for seven innings but he allowed four earned runs on five hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

Tampa Bay starter Jeff Niemann (11-7) was kept on a short leash (5 innings, 2 earned runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts; 89 pitches) but that was because as usual, Rays manager Joe Maddon had a trick up his sleeve: rookie Matt Moore.

Making just his second MLB appearance, the former minor league pitcher of the year was able to give his team three innings. He only allowed one earned run on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts. He's already been compared to Price in 2008 in terms of how Maddon would like to deploy his newest young hard-throwing lefty.

Tampa Bay got out to a 3-0 lead with two runs in the first on Ben Zobrist's two-run bomb and Desmond Jennings (2 runs) scored on Lester's wild pitch.

Mike Aviles (3 hits) hit an RBI double in the third to score Carl Crawford (2 runs, 2 hits) and Jacoby Ellsbury (2 RBIs, hit, stolen base) knocked in Aviles with a sacrifice fly to cut it to 3-2 after three innings.

Evan Longoria's RBI single in the fifth was the difference. Ellsbury knocked in the last Boston run with a ground out in the seventh.

Moore going three allowed Maddon to avoid using any other relievers before temporary closer Joel Peralta struck out two in the ninth and danced around a hit to record his fourth save of the season.

Probably the only good news to come out of the loss for the Red Sox is that Daniel Bard seems to have found himself once again. He pitched a 1-2-3 eighth (8 of 12 pitches for strikes), his second great outing in as many days.

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Beckett Returns To Glory, Ditto For Bard As Red Sox Finally Beat The Rays

It seems silly to call a game for a team that leads the American League Wild Card by three games with 13 remaining a must-win but I think that's exactly how any objective Boston Red Sox fan viewed tonight's game vs. the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.

Josh Beckett (13-5) returned after last pitching on September 5 and while he wasn't his usual lights out self against Tampa Bay (83-67), he still did enough to make sure the Red Sox (87-63) won 4-3 in a playoff-like atmosphere (cool temperatures and a crowd that for once was into it from the start).

This was seen as such an important game since the Rays had won six straight against Boston, plus if they swept this weekend series they would be tied with the Red Sox. This win for Boston means that at worst they'll say bye to their AL East foes with a two-game lead with 10 games left in the regular season.

Beckett lasted six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. It's hard to gauge which is more vital to the cause long-term but Daniel Bard also returned to his dominant self after a recent particularly rough stretch. He worked around a walk in the eighth and struck out the side with some overpowering fastballs and sliders (plus a changeup which he never throws).

Alfredo Aceves had been the bridge to Bard with a scoreless seventh (two walks, two strikeouts) and Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side in the ninth (12 of 13 pitches for strikes) as he picked up his 30th save of the season. It had almost been a month since his last save opportunity (August 18) and he made this one count as he became the first closer with 30+ saves in the first six seasons of his career.

James Shields (15-11) was off his game for the Rays. He went seven innings but he was tagged for four earned runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Evan Longoria (3 RBIs, 2 hits, 2 walks) hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to give Tampa Bay an early 2-0 advantage.

Boston responded immediately in the bottom of the first as Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 2 runs, stolen base) knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury with an RBI single and David Ortiz (2 hits, 2 RBIs) likewise drove in Pedroia with an RBI single.

Longoria put the Rays ahead once again with an RBI single in the third, driving in Desmond Jennings (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases, walk).

Ortiz tied it in the home half of the third with an RBI double that plated Pedroia.

The go-ahead run was provided by Mike Aviles, who drilled a solo homer (his sixth of the season; first with Boston) off the Sports Authority sign in the fourth.

Jon Lester opposes Jeff Niemann tomorrow afternoon in another juicy pitching matchup. For one night at least, the Red Sox' woes were forgotten as they gained ground on the Rays and the Yankees (3.5 games ahead in the AL East) who lost in Toronto. After completely failing at the Trop last weekend, expect Lester to bounce back and pitch much better this time around.

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This Shit Is Starting To Get Real

If you're a Red Sox fan, you're more than used to August swoons and September slides, but all of that past history can't prepare you for what's going down now: another possibly monumental collapse.

Boston (85-60) lost its fourth straight, 6-5 to Tampa Bay (80-64) in 11 innings tonight at Tropicana Field. The Rays have climbed within 4.5 games of the wild card lead (5 head-to-head matchups left).

About the only glass half full thing I can muster is that the Yankees are in a similar downward spiral, losing four straight as well and dealing with countless injuries of their own. The bad part is that New York is ahead of Boston by 2.5 games.

After Jonathan Papelbon was excellent, throwing the very rare two innings of relief (no hits, 14 of 16 pitches were strikes), Daniel Bard (2-7) came on and had his second straight meltdown. He gave a lead-off triple to Desmond Jennings (2 hits, 2 runs), got B.J. Upton to ground out but then Evan Longoria (2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 walks) hit a walk-off single.

In a market filled with so many clown Red Sox writers, it's hard to tell sometimes when to panic since some are known to constantly fan the flames (cough, Shaughnessy) but this has gotten serious my friends. Boston's starting rotation is a shell of itself, meaning the bullpen is taxed and the lineup isn't what it used to be with Youk out and Pedroia not himself.

The Sox actually rallied in the ninth from down 5-3 as Jarrod Saltalamacchia (16th of the season) and Jacoby Ellsbury (26th of the season) hit back-to-back homers off Rays closer (and former Yankees scrub) Kyle Farnsworth; the eighth time the team has done that this season.

It didn't look good early for Boston as rookie Kyle Weiland (making his third MLB start) loaded the bases with no outs in the first. He somehow escaped and just allowed one run in that frame on a ground out. He lasted four innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout.

His short outing meant that Alfredo Aceves had to come in earlier than usual. He wasn't as good as he usually is but you can't complain about four innings, two earned runs, three hits, one walk and three strikeouts. With those type of numbers, he could be the number two starter at the moment. Sadly, that is kind of true.

Rays rookie Jeremy Hellickson bolstered his case for AL Rookie of the Year with a quality start: six innings, three earned runs, five hits, three walks and two strikeouts.

Boston tied it in the second on Jed Lowrie's ground out but Tampa Bay added a run in the second (on Jennings' ground out) and in the third on Casey Kotchman's (2 hits, 2 RBIs) sacrifice fly.

Adrian Gonzalez tied it at three with his 25th homer of the season, a two-run shot. Ellsbury's single earlier in the inning increased his latest hit streak to 15 games.

Kotchman took Aceves deep in the fifth and Longoria had a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 5-3 in favor of Tampa Bay.

An interesting side note to the game is that the winning reliever for the Rays was none other than Brandon Gomes (2-1) who is a Fall River, Mass native and Tulane graduate. He got the last four outs for what I'm going to assume was his most memorable MLB win.

Jon Lester vs. James Shields is the juicy pitching matchup tomorrow afternoon in the series finale. Unfortunately, the ratings should be terrible since tomorrow is the first Sunday of the 2011 NFL regular season. I'll be checking my phone, Twitter and the gamecast while also peeking at the game between commercials or when I need a break from the Red Zone.

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Yo John Lackey, You Mad Bro?

If you stopped paying attention to the Red Sox weeks ago, who could blame you? A playoff spot seemed like a sure fire bet and all you had to worry about was if they'd play the Tigers or the Rangers in the ALDS.

Well after dropping eight of their last 11 games, Boston (85-59) is suddenly fighting for their postseason lives as they stave off an epidemic of injuries. This is the first time they've lost three in a row since June 21-25.

Tampa Bay (79-64) won the series opener tonight at Tropicana Field 7-2 to pull within 5.5 games of the Red Sox for the AL wild card. The Yankees lost their third game in a row tonight so they remained only 2.5 games up on Boston, not that the AL East looks attainable at all.

With Kevin Youkilis back in Boston with a sports hernia, Dustin Pedroia ice cold, not to mention Josh Beckett and Erik Bedard pushed back with injuries, it fell on John Lackey to give the Red Sox something positive.

What do you know, he fell flat on his face as always. Lackey's (12-12) latest shit sandwich was one of his most gruesome since he left after only three innings after taking a liner off his calf. He still managed to give up five earned runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. I'm done making fun of Lackey, it's too easy and it's all been said before at this point.

On the other side, Wade Davis (10-8) pitched a complete game. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Even more unlikely than Davis' gem was the offensive performance from John Jaso, a backup catcher who will never be confused with Mike Piazza or Johnny Bench. Jaso's three-run homer in the second off Lackey got Tampa Bay off to a great start; he later added a double and scored his second run.

The Rays added a pair of runs in the third on Johnny Damon's infield single and Matt Joyce's single.

Boston showed some signs of life with two runs in the sixth on Jacoby Ellsbury's infield single and a sacrifice fly by Marco Reddick (who has been red hot on this awful 1-4 trip).

Luckily, Tampa Bay took any intrigue out of this one in their next at bats as Reid Brignac and Evan Longoria (2 hits) both had RBI doubles.

Josh Reddick had two hits and scored a run. He has one of the few good things lately for the Red Sox. His batting average has creeped back up to .299.

The man saddled with the pressure to break this tailspin by the Red Sox is rookie Kyle Weiland, who makes his third career start tomorrow night against fellow rookie Jeremy Hellickson (12-11, 2.90 ERA).

The odds are still overwhelmingly in Boston's favor, they are going to make the playoffs (right?) but for the love of god, they need a win sooner rather than later. Do I have to mention that including tomorrow they play the Rays six more times? That means if Tampa Bay could run the table or go 5-1, they could very likely leap over the Red Sox for the wild card.

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Rays Hold Red Sox To Three Hits For Third Straight Game At Fenway Park

Well it's a good thing that the Tampa Bay Rays will likely miss the playoffs this season. I can say with a straight face that they pose a much bigger threat to the Boston Red Sox than the New York Yankees because of their stellar top of the rotation.

Buoyed by the third consecutive outstanding start by their pitchers, the Rays (66-56) blanked the Red Sox (74-48) 4-0 this afternoon at Fenway Park. It helped them take the series 2-1 and move to 6-5 against Boston so far this season (seven more meetings remain).

Boston was held to three hits in each of the three games against Tampa Bay yesterday (doubleheader) and today. That's the first time since 1974 that the Red Sox have been held to three hits three games in a row.

Following James Shields and Jeff Niemann's lead, David Price (11-10) completely shutdown Boston's lineup that is without David Ortiz (heel) for the next 10 days. Price went eight innings with three walks and six strikeouts.

It was a perfect day weather wise and a rare afternoon start but the fans that were lucky enough to get a ticket had to pay their debt by sitting through the usual torture of a John Lackey (11-9) start. By his terrible standards, he wasn't bad at all but Price vs. Lackey is a matchup Boston will never win.

In 6.2 innings, Lackey allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

Ben Zobrist's (2 hits, 2 RBIs) ground out in the first scored Johnny Damon (2 hits) with Tampa Bay's first run. B.J. Upton hit a solo homer in the fourth, Evan Longoria followed suit with a solo bomb in the fifth and Zobrist rounded it out with an RBI double in the seventh.

The Royals did the Red Sox a favor by somehow beating the Yankees tonight in a game which Bruce Chen started. New York still leads Boston for first-place in the AL East by half a game.

After three days at home (three games in two days) including the off-day, the Red Sox go back on the road for one of their most difficult trips of the season: four in Kansas City followed by four in Texas.

Josh Beckett faces Luke Hochevar tomorrow night in a rematch of a game the Royals won 4-3 back on July 28 at Fenway, the finale of a four-game series split. After losing five of its last seven games and dropping out of first-place in the AL East while its offense has went missing, the Red Sox need to wake up. They want no part of the AL Wild Card and a trip to Texas in the ALDS.

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Is it time for the All-Star break yet?

Yikes, this is getting ugly. With the Triple A lineups the Red Sox are forced to trot out each night, they have no chance against anyone, particularly a good team like the Rays. Boston's hand is forced too because they don't really have many trade chips and not to mention there have so many needs (middle of the lineup bat, relievers) to fill.

Last night, Tampa Bay (51-33) swept the Sox (49-36) 6-4 at Tropicana Field as David Price became the first 12-game winner in the AL (probably solidifying that he'll start the All-Star game next week).

Price (12-4) went 7.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts.

Tim Wakefield fell to 3-7, lasting 5.2 innings but allowing six earned runs on four hits with six walks and three strikeouts.

Mercifully the Red Sox have an off-day today and then a three-game series in Toronto before they can regroup and hopefully return somebody next week when they start back up.

This was actually a game that Boston deserved to win but unfortunately they got in way too big a hole early. The Rays went up 2-0 in the fourth on Evan Longoria's solo homer and B.J. Upton's infield single. Tampa added three more in the fifth: Kelly Shoppach scored on a passed ball, Carlos Pena had an RBI single and a run scored on Sean Rodriguez's groundout.

David Ortiz started the ill-fated Sox comeback with an RBI double in the sixth. Carl Crawford answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth which turned out to be the deciding run.

Mike Cameron (3 hits) hit a solo homer in the seventh then a sacrifice fly in the ninth. That wacky Joe Maddon even had Matt Garza close out the Sox (since Rafael Soriano had worked four games in a row) and he nearly gave it away as Darnell McDonald (3 hits) hit an RBI double and Ortiz walked before Kevin Youkilis flew out to center to end it.

What is going on with Josh Beckett?

As sweet as the win Tuesday night was, last night left a bitter taste in Red Sox fans' mouths since Josh Beckett continued to scuffle (at the most important time of the season).

Tampa Bay won 8-5 last night at the Trop, evening the score in this vital series that the Rays (72-60) have to win.

Beckett was down 5-1 after three innings but he struck around long enough to go six respectable innings. He gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits with nine strikeouts.

Rays starter Matt Garza has had a forgettable season but he always seems to pick it up a notch vs. the Red Sox. He lasted 6.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

One of the trademarks of Beckett not pitching well is the abundance of homers he gives up.

Carl Crawford hit a solo shot in the first. Jason Bay tied it with an RBI triple in the second. The Rays scored three times in the third: Pat Burrell (2 hits, 2 RBIs) hit a solo homer, Akinori Iwamura had an RBI single and Gregg Zaun (3 hits) scored on B.J. Upton's sacrifice.

Zaun's RBI double in the third made it 5-1 but the Red Sox slowly started to comeback. Two in the fourth on a David Ortiz groundout and a J.D. Drew RBI single cut it to 5-3.

Victor Martinez hit an RBI single in the seventh and pinch runner Joey Gathright (former Rays great) tied it in the eighth after J.P. Howell threw a wild pitch.

Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen blew it in the eighth as Burrell touched up Ramirez with a run scoring single and Evan Longoria blasted a two-run bomb on the first pitch from Delcarmen.

The rubber match tonight is between both team's promising young pitchers: Clay Buchholz vs. David Price. It's a meaningful one since a Boston win is up 2.5 games on the Rangers in the wild card and 5 on the Rays.

Nine out of ten blue hairs agree: the Rays own the Sox

Evan Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays continued their recent dominance over the Boston Red Sox as they outlasted the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 last night in 13 innings at Tropicana Field.

Longoria hit a walk-off two run bomb (his second homer of the game) in the first of two games between these two playoff contenders (one of which will likely miss the playoffs).

In a pitching rematch from last fall's ALCS game 7, Jon Lester and Matt Garza proved why their some of MLB's best starting pitchers. Neither earned a decision but they were both on top of their games.

Lester went six innings, allowing a run on three hits, with two walks and ten strikeouts.

Garza lasted seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Boston (62-43) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second on Kevin Youkilis' solo homer. Things looked even better in the sixth when Dustin Pedroia (2 hits) made it 2-0 with another solo shot.

As per usual, the Rays (59-48) didn't go way as Jason Bartlett (2 hits, 2 walks, RBI) knocked in Carlos Pena with an infield single in the seventh.

Longoria tied it with a solo homer in the eighth and predictably ended it with his bomb in the 13th. For the season, Longoria has seven homers and 25 RBIs against the Red Sox.

Boston's bullpen danced out of trouble in the 8th and 10th as they somehow escaped bases-loaded, no out jams without giving up a run.

Brad Penny goes against David Price tonight so who knows what to expect from either unpredictable guy.

If you think the Rays were a fluke, you're an idiot (that probably calls WEEI every day)

Well what do you know, the Tampa Bay Rays took two of three in the season opening series at Fenway.

Yesterday afternoon, the Rays (2-1) won 4-3 behind three home runs and the strong pitching of Matt Garza (1-0).

The bat-shit crazy but extremely talented righty baffled the Sox (1-2) for seven innings: one run on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

On the other side, the mystery, wrapped inside an enigma, wrapped inside a Fenway Frank that is Daisuke Matsuzaka got his 2009 campaign off to a mediocre start.

Like most Americans, I could care less that the Dice man was the World Baseball Classic MVP for the second time in a row, just a few weeks ago. As much as ESPN will try to convince me otherwise, that competition means nothing. This is Matsuzaka's third season in MLB and I feel like I already know what to expect from him: a high-wire act that's usually successful but ultimately underwhelming long-term.

Dice-K (0-1) lasted 5.1 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Matt Joyce hit a solo homer in the second for Tampa Bay. Evan Longoria (3 hits)-who is easily one of the top young players in baseball-blasted a two-run bomb in the third and finally, backup catcher Shawn Riggens hit a solo shot in the fourth.

Once Matsuzaka exited, the Sox bullpen actually did a nice job keeping their team in the game while the bats slightly woke up.

Jason Bay's RBI triple knocked in Kevin Youkilis (3 hits, 2 runs) to make it 4-1 in the sixth.

Mike Lowell doubled home Youk in the eighth to cut the lead to two (4-2).

Without question, the Rays' biggest weakness is at closer where fossilized relic Troy Percival still gets the call (for the next few weeks at least before he breaks a hip or throws out his back). Jason Varitek took him deep in the ninth and David Ortiz walked but Youk flew out to deep center to end it.

The Sox travel to Anaheim to face the Angels in a three game set. No clue what to expect from a team that was just struck by tragedy. Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver on Wednesday night after starting for the team. Their game yesterday against the A's was cancelled.

Season's over: Sox lose a game

As quickly as the bandwagon fans and brain-dead media get hyped after a relatively easy opening day win, it takes roughly the same amount of time to get down as the Red Sox came back to earth last night with a 7-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway.

In a duel of great lefties, Tampa's Scott Kazmir (1-0) came out on top of Boston's Jon Lester (0-1). Kazmir went six innings, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Lester was gone after five innings of work. He gave up five runs on eight hits, with two walks and five strikeouts.

Lester is thought to be a top contender for the AL Cy Young this season so seeing him start out really well (all five strikeouts in the first two innings) then completely unravel was surprising to say the least.

The Rays pushed across their first run in the third on a throwing error by Kevin Youkilis.

He atoned for that mistake with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning which scored Dustin Pedroia. Youk finished with three hits, the only bright spot in a Sox lineup that struck out eight times and left nine on base.

Tampa Bay (1-1) showed it can play any style of baseball in the fifth inning. First, Jason Bartlett (three hits) executed a perfect safety squeeze, which scored former Sox player/minor league manager/bodybuilder Gabe Kapler. Lester got Evan Longoria to ground into a double play but a run still scored.

The most damaging play of the game was later in the fifth when Carlos Pena hit a two-run bomb to center, giving Tampa a commanding 5-1 lead.

Longoria hit a solo shot in the eighth off Takashi Saito (making his Red Sox debut) and Boston responded with one in their half of the inning when Jason Bay doubled home David Ortiz.

Carl Crawford's infield single in the ninth accounted for the last run of the game.

The series wraps up this afternoon with a day game pitting Matt Garza against Dice-K.

Sox stave off elimination in ALCS with comeback win for the ages

Where to begin? The Tampa Bay Rays were crusing along in game 5 at Fenway, nursing a 7-0 lead with nine outs to go from the World Series. Somehow, someway, the Boston Red Sox recovered to get a walk-off 8-7 win thanks to J.D. Drew's RBI double in the ninth. The seven-run deficit and comeback was the second biggest in MLB playoff history.

Following the exact same script from the first two games at Fenway, the Rays jumped on the Sox' starting pitcher immediately. B.J. Upton (who at the moment looks like the greatest player in MLB history) had a two-run bomb off Dice-K that just got over the Monster.

Carlos Pena (2 hits, walk) followed suit with another two-run homer in the third off Dice-K and Evan Longoria added a solo shot. Like Lester and Beckett before him, Matsuzaka had nothing in Boston's most important game of the year. He lasted only four innings, giving up five runs (all earned) on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

When Tampa Bay scored twice more in the top of the seventh, Upton (2 runs, 3 hits, 4 RBI, walk) knocked in two more with a double, I can't even blame the frauds that filled the seats at Fenway for leaving. Down 7-0, the Sox bats had been completely lifeless in the last 2+ games, who really thought they'd have such an epic ending?

Lost in all the chaos after such a dramatic win was the great performance by Rays starter Scott Kazmir. Countless lazy Boston writers had criticized Joe Maddon for going with Kazmir in game 5 yet all he did was throw six scoreless innings (something that the Red Sox would kill for at this point). Kazmir allowed two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Red Sox finally woke up from their cryogenic slumber. Dustin Pedroia singled in Jed Lowrie to make it 7-1 Tampa Bay. David Oritz came up with two men on and for the first time in the 2008 playoffs, Big Papi delivered. He blasted a three-run homer off Dingo-herder Grant Balfour.

The season was hanging in the balance so Terry Francona smartly went to his best arm in the seventh-Jonathan Papelbon. He let two inherited runners score in the seventh but settled down to pitch a scoreless eighth.

In the home half of the eighth the Sox tied it up on J.D. Drew's two-run homer off Dan Wheeler and Coco Crisp's clutch 10 pitch at-bat and RBI single. When it was happening live, I thought in my head that it was Crisp's best at-bat of his Red Sox career.

Justin Masterson worked around a hit and walk in the ninth to retire Longoria on a double play ball to end the inning. At that point, you had a feeling that there was no way Tampa was winning this game.

Drew did the honors as he drove in Kevin Youkilis with an RBI single off J.P. Howell. Youkilis had a great 10 pitch at bat as well before he singled. Howell walked Jason Bay before Drew delivered with another chapter cementing his place as a Boston sports legend (grand slam in game 6 of the 2007 ALCS says hello as well).

Hideki Okajima was another unsung hero in the win as he pitched two scoreless innings after Dice-K's meltdown. It had to be the earliest Okajima has ever entered a game for Boston.

So the series shifts back to Tampa Bay tomorrow night with the Phillies waiting at home for the winner, in the World Series. The Rays had all the momentum in the series and looked like a sure bet to wrap it up last night. However, I can't think of many other soul-crushing losses like last night in any sport. The fact that the Rays are such a young, inexperienced team means that this loss might linger even longer than it would with a more veteran team. Who knows? It all comes down to if Josh Beckett can give Boston anything tomorrow night against James Shields. It's been three straight dogshit starts from Red Sox pitchers. If Boston wins game 6, you can bank on them winning the series. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves, the Rays have shown themselves to be a ridiculously talented team all year, particularly in the first two plus games at Fenway.

Counting on (another) Miracle

The Tampa Bay Rays aren't just beating the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, they're setting records in the process and embarrassing the defending World Series champs. The Rays became the first team to score 9+ runs in three consecutive playoff games yesterday as they cruised to a 13-4 win in game 4 at Fenway. Tampa Bay takes a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

It didn't take long to see that Tim Wakefield didn't have anything for the Sox. Carlos Pena (3 runs, 2 walks) hit a two-run homer in the first and Evan Longoria (2 runs, 2 RBIs, walk) followed that with a solo shot.

Willy Aybar had a career night (4 for 5, 5 RBIs) and he blasted a two-run homer in the third, giving Tampa Bay a 5-0 lead.

Boston got a solo homer from Kevin Cash in the bottom of the inning but that was it.

In 2.1 innings, Wakefield was charged with five runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Once again, the Rays got an solid start from its pitcher. Andy Sonnanstine went 7.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Tampa put it away with a run in the fifth and five in the sixth. Carl Crawford was 5 for 5 with 3 runs, 2 RBIs and two steals.

Kevin Youkilis had an RBI groundout in the seventh but the Rays scored twice more in the eighth. The Sox finally found a Rays pitcher they can handle as Dustin Pedroia and Youkilis had an RBI single and double respectively off of Edwin Jackson in mop-up duty in the eighth.

Need some positive thinking? The last two times the Red Sox have faced a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs (2004 ALCS and 2007 ALCS), they've comeback and swept the World Series. When you think about it, it's not like we could have expected those results when they were facing elimination. Still, the Rays couldn't have any more momentum at this point. Everything is going their way for good reason. Boston can't hit, isn't getting starting pitching and the bullpen is a mess.

Dice-K will face Scott Kazmir tomorrow night at Fenway in game 5. The Sox need a spark, something to get them going and send this series back to the Trop. Otherwise, it's going to be a long offseason as the team is forced to reflect on its collapse against the Rays.

Rays demolish Red Sox, 9-1

The one sure thing in the Red Sox rotation couldn't get the job done yesterday afternoon at Fenway. Tampa Bay got to Jon Lester and made it a laugher, 9-1, in game 3 of the ALCS. The Rays take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Lester lasted 5.2 innings in a game where Boston needed more from their ace. He allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Matt Garza on the other hand, gave the Rays a perfect start. He went six innings, giving up a run on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Evan Longoria scored in the second on Dioner Navarro's RBI groundout to make it 1-0 Tampa Bay. The Rays added four in the third on B.J. Upton's three-run bomb and Longoria's solo shot. Those two guys are currently killing the Sox.

Boston got runners at first and third in the seventh but could only come away with one run as Jacoby Ellsbury knocked in Jason Varitek with a sacrifice fly. Ellsbury, David Ortiz and Varitek are a combined 0-for-34 in the series.

The pride of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Rocco Baldelli sent Red Sox fans to the exits with a three-run homer in the eighth off Paul Byrd. Carlos Pena, from Haverhill, MA/Northeastern added a solo shot in the ninth.

Something needs to be shaken up with the Sox' lineup. Varitek will sit tonight as Kevin Cash catches starter Tim Wakefield. Coco Crisp (never thought I'd say this) should be in there over Jacoby Ellsbury. Coco is a terrible leadoff hitter so have Pedroia do it (which he proved capable of during the season).

It's pretty much a must-win for Boston tonight with Wakefield going against Andy Sonnanstine. If Boston loses tonight, they might not even make it back to Tampa. Right now, the Rays are beating them in every facet of the game.