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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Red Sox Split Day-Night Doubleheader With Rays, Record First Triple Play In 17 Years

They might not have the same talent level with Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford, Rafael Soriano, Grant Balfour, Joaquin Benoit, etc. all gone but the Tampa Bay Rays are still a tough matchup for the Boston Red Sox.

There are few if any teams in MLB that draft and develop players as well as the Rays so Crawford has already been replaced by Desmond Jennings. Most importantly, they have a deep and young pitching staff: James Shields, David Price, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson and Wade Davis.

The Red Sox (74-46) were able to beat the Rays (64-56) 3-1 this afternoon in the first tidy game of a day-night doubleheader but Tampa Bay bounced back to take the nightcap 6-2 at Fenway Park. The Yankees beat the Royals tonight as well meaning New York takes a half game lead for first-place in the AL East.

Boston's win was the direct result of the brilliance of five players: Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Daniel Bard, Jonathan Papelbon and Dustin Pedroia. It's rare that a baseball game can be boiled down to that few elements but keep in mind, there were only six hits combined in that one and it only took two hours and 24 minutes.

Shields (11-10) went the distance in the loss, his MLB-best ninth complete game of the season. He allowed three earned runs on three hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Lester (12-6) went one less inning but he was just a smidge more effective. The lefty went seven innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead on the first as Jennings led off the game with a double, stole third and scored on Evan Longoria's ground out.

Boston got all of its runs in the third as Ellsbury drilled a three-run bomb over the Rays bullpen, scoring Josh Reddick and Mike Aviles.

Daniel Bard got a 1-2-3 with two strikeouts for his 28th hold of the season while Jonathan Papelbon continued his incredible stretch of work with a clean ninth for his 28th save of the season.

Pedroia ended the game with authority by snagging a B.J. Upton liner up the middle that seemed destined to be a base hit.

Game two was not so kind to the home team as Niemann (8-4) had one of the most impressive starts by an opposing pitcher that Boston will see all season.

Like Shields, he also threw a complete game (nine innings), allowing two earned runs on three hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts. I don't usually give out Fantasy Baseball tips but pick this guy up, I'm pretty sure he'll be available on most waiver wires.

Erik Bedard (4-8) is still looking for his first win in a Red Sox uniform after three starts. He went six innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Tampa Bay got to his pitch count early-in the second-by fouling off the most amount of pitches I can ever remember (29 in his outing) by one pitcher.

Luck was not on his side even though Boston turned its first triple play since 1994 (John Valentin!). The Rays scored twice in the second on a throwing error by Jed Lowrie and a ground out by Matt Joyce.

Jason Varitek's (his eighth of the season) in the third cut it to 2-1 and Sean Rodriguez was the poor sap who grounded into the triple play in the fourth (Lowrie to Pedroia to Gonzalez: 5-4-3). That was only the 30th triple play in franchise history.

You figure that momentum could carry over but Jennings (2 hits) hit a solo homer over the Monster in the fifth and Boston had to play catch up once again. Ellsbury hit another homer (his 22nd) in the sixth but the Rays pushed across three in the eighth against Matt Albers featuring some more sloppy defense by the Red Sox (even if they weren't called errors).

B.J. Upton (3 hits, 2 runs, stolen base) had an RBI single-his first clutch hit in years-while Ben Zobrist (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases) "stole home" on another bad throw by Lowrie. Casey Kotchman (2 hits) added an RBI single for even more of a cushion.

David Ortiz missed both games and will reportedly be in a boot for the next few days, but not go on the disabled list with a bruised heel.

The rubber match is tomorrow afternoon, yes another day game (today was a rain makeup date). John Lackey goes against David Price. The Red Sox could benefit from the win since they would take the series from the Rays and more importantly, head out on the long road trip (eight games) with renewed confidence.

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Red Sox Beat Rays 1-0 In Epic 16 Inning Affair

It's rare that a mid-season baseball game earns the instant classic label but last night's Sunday Night Baseball contest between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays immediately joined that elite status (even while it was still going on into the wee hours of the morning).

After 480 combined pitches over five hours and 44 minutes, the Red Sox (57-36) ended up winning 1-0 in 16 innings at Tropicana Field. In the process, Boston took two of three from Tampa Bay (50-43) which put them seven games ahead of the Rays in the AL East and dealt them some psychological damage by taking the longest game in Tampa Bay franchise history.

In a ridiculous performance that featured once-in-a-lifetime stat lines (Jacoby Ellsbury 0-for-8, Adrian Gonzalez 1-for-7, BJ Upton 0-for-6, etc), Dustin Pedroia (3 for 7 with a walk, stolen base) was the only hitter for either team to notch more than one hit.

Pedroia's RBI single through the hole between first and second base scored Josh Reddick in the 16th gave the Red Sox the only run they would need. Pedroia also had two great plays in the field to get close outs at first while Reddick sent the game to the 11th with a remarkable leaping catch at the left field wall.

Tampa Bay's Adam Russell (1-2) was the hard-luck loser in a game that featured nine pitchers for the Rays and six for the Red Sox.

Josh Beckett and Jeff Niemann each went eight scoreless innings as neither offense could get anything going. The Red Sox left 17 men on base and they didn't score in the ninth or 11th after loading the bases. The Rays only left six men on base, showing how much they struggle offensively when Evan Longoria is hitting .233 and Casey Kotchman is batting fifth in their lineup.

Coming off his shutout against his one-hit shutout against the Rays on the night the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, Beckett picked up where he left off. He allowed one hit with no walks and six strikeouts.

Niemann gave up just two hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.

Alfredo Aceves (5-1) earned the win with three perfect innings, including two strikeouts. Jonathan Papelbon put the exclamation point on the win with a 1-2-3 inning (with a strikeout) in the 16th for his 21st save.

With Daniel Bard (1 inning), Matt Albers (1.2 innings), Franklin Morales (1.1 innings), Aceves and Papelbon all pitching last night, expect Tim Wakefield to be pushed more than usual to go deep into tonight's game in Baltimore. The Red Sox open a three-game series at Camden Yards with Carl Crawford expected back in the lineup this evening. In addition, David Ortiz and Orioles closer Kevin Gregg will reportedly begin serving their suspensions tonight. Baltimore's Brad Bergesen gets the nod in the series opener.

Normally I would be worried about the fatigue factor after a game like last night but luckily for the Red Sox, they're playing the Sisters of the Poor of the AL East. The Orioles are a complete joke and they'll probably get swept again, just like they were before the All-Star break at Fenway.

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Ride it 'til the wheels fall off

If you've been paying attention to the Red Sox lately, you had to see this coming. With an unfathomable amount of injuries to key players piling up each day, the Sox were getting by with backups and scrubs but right now, it seems like the wheels are beginning to fall off.

For the second night in a row, Boston (49-35) lost to Tampa (50-33) at Tropicana Field, this time it was 3-2. After losing their way a bit, the Rays seem to have regained their step, no surprise with all the talent they possess and the Yankees continue to chug along at the top of the AL East.

Rookie Felix Doubront (1-1) did enough in his second MLB start to garner a win or at least no decision for the Red Sox but instead he was saddled with the loss. He went 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

Rays starter Jeff Niemann improved to 7-2 with six innings of fine work: one run (unearned), four hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

Jason Bartlett gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the third with a sacrifice fly that scored John Jaso.

Boston tied it up in the fourth with an RBI infield single by Daniel Nava (2 hits).

A run scored on Jaso's groundout in the fifth and then Carl Crawford had the game's biggest hit: a solo homer off Hideki Okajima in the eighth.

Boston scratched out a run in the ninth with an RBI triple by Eric Patterson which scored Bill Hall. However, with Kevin Youkilis pulled in the fourth inning with an ankle injury and David Ortiz getting intentionally walked, Niuman Romero ended the game with a harmless groundout.

Rafael Soriano converted his 23rd save despite allowing two walks.

Marco Scutaro had two hits, a walk and a stolen base in the loss.

Tim Wakefield takes on David Price tonight as the Red Sox try to avoid the sweep and tread water in the AL East.

2008 was a great year for some

The Tampa Bay Rays completed their first four-game sweep in team history at Fenway Park yesterday afternoon on Patriots Day.

The 8-2 shellacking sent Tampa Bay (10-3) to their seventh straight win while Boston (4-9) has lost five in a row in this very ugly start to the 2010 season.

After making the World Series in 2008 out of nowhere, the Rays came back down to earth last season and didn't make the playoffs as they failed to live up to expectations. The team is still young and supremely talented and there's no reason they can't go deep into the playoffs this fall barring any huge injuries or major slumps.

Jeff Niemann (1-0) got his first win of the season, going seven innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

In his third start for the Red Sox, John Lackey (1-1) got completely shelled and looked like the loser that routinely choked at Fenway when he was with the Angels. He only last 3.1 innings, getting touched for eight earned runs on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Tampa Bay went up 1-0 in the first on Ben Zobrist's groundout which scored Jason Bartlett (3 hits, 3 runs) who had doubled.

The Rays added five in the third on Evan Longoria's two-run double and B.J. Upton's three-run homer into the Boston bullpen.

After Bartlett's RBI triple in the fourth and Carl Crawford's sacrifce fly, Lackey's early day was already done.

Jeremy Hermida helped Boston avoid the shutout with a two-run homer to right in the seventh.

The Sox look to get something positive going tonight as they play a team more at their level right now-the Texas Rangers-who come to Fenway for three games.