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 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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Red Sox Put The Finishing Touches On The Worst Season At Fenway In 47 Years

At some point this season, when we all realized how bleak things really were on Yawkey Way, we either did two things: 1) stopped watching all together or 2) half paid attention but became completely numb to it all.

Tonight, the Rays (85-70, 41-36 away) beat the Red Sox (69-87, 34-47 home) 4-2 at Fenway Park to sweep their mini two-game series. The result will be an important footnote for Boston since it wrapped up the nightmare 2012 regular season at home. Would you believe the Red Sox home record this year is their worst since 1965? Let that sink in for a moment.

Tampa Bay won its seventh straight game to remain three games back for the second AL wild card. Haverhill native and Northeastern's Carlos Pena hit a two-run homer (his 19th) in the fifth inning then Ben Francisco (4th of the season) went back-to-back for a 3-1 Rays lead. Jose Lobaton made it 4-2 in the seventh with a ground rule double.

Jeff Keppinger was 2 for 4 with two runs and Ben Zobrist was 2 for 4 with a double in the win.

Boston's runs came on Daniel Nava's RBI single in the second and James Loney's sacrifice fly in the sixth. Dustin Pedroia walked twice, stole two bases and scored a run in the loss.

Rookie Alex Cobb (10-9) got the win for the Rays. He went five innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks. After Kyle Farnsworth allowed a run, Jake McGee (6th, 2 strikeouts), Wade Davis (7th, 2 strikeouts) and Joel Peralta (8th, 1 strikeout) all had clean innings of relief. Closer Fernando Rodney walked Loney to lead off the ninth but he recovered to strike out two for his 45th save of the season. His ERA is 0.63, hence why he should receive his fair share of AL Cy Young votes.

Jon Lester (9-14) was charged with the loss for the Red Sox. He went six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Mark Melancon struck out four of the five batters he faced (what?) and Craig Breslow struck out the side in the ninth.

Boston is off tomorrow and then they play three in Baltimore this weekend followed by three in New York to finish this brutal campaign. Both teams look like they'll make the playoffs since the Yankees lead the Orioles by 1.5 games in the AL East and the O's are up half a game on the A's for the top wild card.

Aaron Cook (4-10) faces Chris Tillman (8-2) on Friday night (7:05 p.m., NESN). Felix Doubront (11-9) gets Steve Johnson (4-0) on Saturday night (7:05 p.m., NESN) then Zach Stewart (0-1) closes out the series and September against TBA on Sunday afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) when we'll all be tuned into Patriots at Bills.

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Alfredo Aceves Blows The Save, Red Sox Choke Away Series To Rays At Fenway

I'll keep this short and not so sweet since I didn't see one pitch live (I was at Gillette enjoying the NCAA men's lacrosse Division 2 and 3 finals) but I still checked my phone like a madman to see that the Rays beat the Red Sox 4-3 this afternoon at Fenway Park to take the series 2-1.

Boston (23-24, 10-3 home) looked poised to finally get over the .500 hump but for the fifth time this stupid season, they couldn't get it done as they fell to Tampa Bay (29-19, 12-12 away), a much better team. If you think about it, this would have been a Rays sweep if not for Salty's walk-off homer last night.

Staked to a 3-2 lead to start the ninth, Alfredo Aceves (0-2) blew the save after converting his last nine in a row. Mighty (.241 average) Sean Rodriguez (5th of the season) took him deep with a three-run no doubter over the Monster.

That wasted two very rare things for Boston: 1) a quality start for Clay Buchholz (7 innings, 2 earned runs, 8 hits, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk) and 2) a clutch three-run homer (4th of the season, 1st opposite field!) by Adrian Gonzalez in the seventh when the Red Sox trailed 2-0. Of course, this being A-Gon, he had a chance to add an insurance run in the eighth but couldn't do it. Lefty Jake McGee (2-1) was summoned with the bases loaded and he got Gonzalez to ground out. I guess two clutch hits in the same contest is way too much to ask from him.

Jeremy Hellickson pitched well for Tampa Bay though not as stellar as Buchholz (best start of 2012, not that it was a long list). He went 7.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

The Rays scratched out a pair of runs on Ben Zobrist's ground out in the fourth and Will Rhymes' (3 hits) RBI single that scored Rodriguez in the seventh.

The Detroit Tigers (23-24) come to Fenway for a four-game series starting tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) on Memorial Day. Two bad teams, America, woo! The Tigers looked like world beaters in the opening series of the 2012 season when they swept the Red Sox in Motown but as you can tell by their third-place standing in the crappy AL Central, they have been a disappointment since then.

Felix Doubront (4-2) faces Doug Fister (0-2) tomorrow, Daniel Bard (4-5) gets MLB's best pitcher-Justin Verlander (5-2) on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Jon Lester (3-4) takes on rookie Drew Smyly (2-1) on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN) while Josh Beckett (4-4) and Max Scherzer (4-3) wrap it up on Thursday night (7:10 p.m., NESN).

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Salty's 1st Career Walk-Off HR Gives Boston A Thrilling 3-2 Win Vs. Tampa Bay

I guess all we can surmise from tonight's final result is that the Boston Red Sox flourish the most when the pressure is not on them, namely in terms of viewing audiences.

Like most, I wasn't watching it live; I actually first noticed it on my stattracker for Yahoo fantasy baseball (on my laptop) and then Twitter but it counts just the same as the Red Sox (23-23, 10-12 home) beat the Rays (28-19, 11-12 away) 3-2 on a walk-off (1st of his career) two-run homer by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

It was the 10th comeback win for the Red Sox this season, a good sign that they might not be as average as their record suggests.

The pinch-hit bomb to right center (his 8th of the season) put Boston back at .500 (for the fourth time this season) while also causing the first blown save of the season for Rays closer Fernando Rodney (2-1), who had 15 saves in a row to start 2012.

It was a pitcher's duel as Josh Beckett and David Price both performed very well even though neither factored into the final decision. Price went seven innings, allowing one earned run on eight hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Beckett also went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks. He had 15 swinging strikes which has to be a season high.

As always, the only thing you can count on this season for Boston is their bullpen and tonight was no exception. Andrew Miller threw a clean eighth with a strikeout then Rich Hill (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and ended up getting the win.

The Red Sox broke the deadlock in the sixth on Will Middlebrooks's (2 hits) RBI single. The Rays scored both of their runs in the seventh on Ben Zobrist's sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Luke Scott.

Boston gets its fourth chance (5th if you count Opening Day) to go over .500 tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) as Clay Buchholz (4-2) takes on Jeremy Hellickson (4-1). It would be a shock if Buchholz is the one to get them there since he's been a complete mess basically all season despite somehow notching four fraudulent wins.

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The Rays (Minus Luke Scott & B.J. Upton) Are Way Too Easy To Root For

Yes friends, Memorial Day weekend (the unofficial start of summer) is here but the Boston Red Sox still haven't gotten over the .500 mark in the 2012 season.

They've had three chances (four if you count Opening Day) to get over that but they haven't done such a simple task that most mediocre baseball teams can do in their sleep. It's very possible that it might be June before it happens (if ever). Let that fully sink in and wash over you.

Tonight at Fenway Park, Tampa Bay (28-18, 11-11 away) opened up a 7-1 lead in the fourth inning before settling for a 7-4 victory in the series opener against Boston (22-23, 9-12 home).

Jon Lester's (3-4) outing was bad enough but this couldn't mercifully end without that wonderfully pointless exercise that's unique to baseball: intentionally hitting a guy with a pitch than both dugouts and bullpens emptying but absolutely nothing of consequence happening. The particulars of this event were Red Sox reliever Franklin Morales drilling Rays redneck racist Luke Scott on the hip in the ninth. It was all payback for drama earlier in the game (Burke Badenhop hitting Dustin Pedroia in the 6th). Things like that give me an ice cream headache. Nobody can be as sensitive as baseball players and the mock outrage when utterly predictable stuff like that occurs is equally pathetic. Who cares, as long as it's not hitting guys in the head.

Moving on, Lester was rocked. He lasted but four innings, allowing seven earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks. He served up three homers in less than two innings, always a winning formula.

Rays rookie Alex Cobb (2-0) got the win and it's good to see Tampa Bay finally developing some young pitchers. They haven't had enough of those in recent years that have found any success. Cobb went five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with two strikeouts and four walks.

This shouldn't even have been competitive but as they've done all season, the Red Sox bullpen stubbornly kept them in it. Scott Atchison threw three scoreless innings while Matt Albers and Morales followed him with scoreless frames of their own. Combined they allowed only two hits with four strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work. Maybe Bobby V should think about reversing roles and having them start the game since Boston's starters clearly couldn't be less consistent.

Kevin Youkilis gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single. Matt Joyce (9th of the season) put the Rays in front for good with a grand slam in the third inning. Elliott Johnson (3rd of the season) and new Tampa Bay leadoff hitter Carlos Pena (7th of the season) hit back-to-back homers in the fourth with Johnson's coming with Chris Gimenez on base too.

Boston mounted its ill-fated rally in the fifth as Adrian Gonzalez hit an RBI double off the Monster to cut it to 7-2. Marlon Byrd had an RBI single in the sixth and Mike Aviles hit a sacrifice fly but Jake McGee was able to get David Ortiz to fly out to right (with two runners on) to end the frame.

Tampa Bay's bullpen was even more impressive (considering they had a lead) as McGee got four outs, Joel Peralta earned the hold with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 eighth and Fernando Rodney had a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout for his 15th save of the season. I bet you didn't know that Rodney's ERA is 0.38. Really.

I don't know what kind of deal with the devil Joe Maddon made but it's insane when you sit back and realize what he's getting out of things like Pena leading off, Red Sox castoff Drew Sutton (2 for 3 with a walk) and Rodney as a lights out closer. If everything seemingly works for the Rays (in the regular season at least before their lack of offense kills them in the postseason), nothing is ever right for the Red Sox, who take one step forward and two steps back every week.

With Celtics-Sixers Game 7 on tap tomorrow night (8 p.m., ABC) and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat on the line, I'm pretty sure about five people will watch all of the Red Sox-Rays game tomorrow (7:15 p.m., Fox). Four of them will be old folks that fall asleep in the third inning with the TV on. That's probably best since Josh Beckett (4-4) faces David Price (6-3).

I can already smell a Rays sweep this weekend while everyone is more tuned into parties, barbecues and the beach.

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Rays Squeak Out Weird Game Over Red Sox, 2-1

There's no other way to say it: tonight's Rays-Red Sox game was just bizarre for many reasons.

Tampa Bay (24-14, 14-3 home) beat Boston (17-20, 8-9 away) 2-1 in the series opener at Tropicana Field. Somehow the game took three hours and 29 minutes, maybe that had something to do with the three balks allowed by Red Sox pitchers (one proved especially costly). Oh and Rays second baseman Will Rhymes fainted and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher in the eighth after getting drilled on the arm by a Franklin Morales pitch.

Predictably, the Red Sox' fraudulent five-game win streak was snapped, along with their stretch of five quality starts in a row from their pitchers. Clay Buchholz (4-2) wasn't bad but he could only last five innings. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Andrew Miller, Matt Albers, Morales and Scott Atchison teamed up for three scoreless innings of relief.

Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson (4-0) stayed perfect this season, going six innings and allowing one earned run on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Jake McGee (7th) and Joel Peralta (8th) had scoreless innings before Fernando Rodney struck out two for his 12th save of the season.

Cody Ross reached on a two-out single in the ninth but Rodney retired Daniel Nava on a grounder to second.

Carlos Pena scored in the second on a balk by Buchholz but Nava tied it up in the fourth with an RBI single that brought home Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The winning run came on Luke Scott's sacrifice fly in the sixth but truthfully, it should be had some sort of assist to Ross. He didn't get a proper read on a routine fly ball to right, which allowed Matt Joyce to tag up and score-something he wouldn't have done if Ross didn't dance before catching it.

Felix Doubront (3-1) faces Matt Moore (1-3) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) in the abbreviated series finale. A win by the Red Sox would help prove that they can beat a good team on the road. Plus it would give them momentum heading into their first interleague series of the 2012 season-this weekend in Philadelphia.

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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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