Once again Rays prevent a BoSox sweep

Tampa Bay 5, Sox 4
WP: Jackson (5-15)
LP: Wakefield (16-12)
SV: Reyes (25)
HRs: BOS-Cora (3); TB- Young (13)

SUMMARY
The monumental struggles of Tim Wakefield continue as the veteran saw his perfect 9-0 record at the Trop snapped when he allowed four runs in five innings, and despite a decent comeback by the Boston offense, Julian Tavarez came in and allowed a run that ended up being the difference in the game.

#1 STUNNER Delmon Young 3-4, 2R, 2BI, 2B, HR
Dustin Pedroia's primary competition for Rookie of the Year added to his credentials by notching three more hits to give him 183 on the year, the first of which was a long two-run homer in the second that helped propel the Rays to victory.

GAGME Wakefield 5IP, 7H, 4ER, 3BB, 5K, HR
After ripping off a stretch of 8 wins in 10 starts, Wake has been absolutely atrocious since skipping his turn due to a back injury. In four starts since his return he is 0-2 and has allowed 33 hits and 21 earned runs over 17 2/3 innings for a 10.70 ERA.

Tim, enjoy your final start next week and we'll see ya out of the pen in October. As long as it's not against the Stanks.

RECAP
In the first series played between these two teams this year, Boston swept the three games by a combined score of 26-10. In each of the next five series Tampa bay won 1 of 3 games, and in four of those meetings the win came in the series finale.

So it should have come as no surprise that the Rays knocked off the Sox this afternoon in the final game of the season between these two AL East competitors, and despite the fact that they are separated by 28 games in the win column, most of the matchups in these past few series have been anything but cakewalks.

Combine the Rays resilience against its big East brothers and the recent struggles of Sox starter Tim Wakefield and you didn't need Kreskin to tell you that it was going to be tough to get out of TIA with a sweep under their belts this time.

Throw out the well-documented success (9-0 at the Trop, 19-2 lifetime vs. the Rays) Wakefield has had against this club, when a pitcher is struggling as badly as he is, it's not like a sudden trip to an airplane hangar of a stadium is going to cure what ails him.

No, his troubles run deeper than having an atmospherically controlled environment to help control his fickle flutterball. We all know that when his knuckler is going good he can be one of the most unhittable pitchers in the league, but when that pesky pitch is as flat as Keira Knightley's chest, well people tend to hit the pitch, both hard and a long way.

And since so many people have been hitting Wakefield hard and a long way (he's surrendered 5 homers in the 17.2 innings) since he returned from his one-start hiatus, it begs the question of whether his back problem is more serious than people are letting on.

He claims he's fine, and if that's the case then we just have to add his name to the list of Sox hurlers who were untouchable for a good chunk of the season and are now unable to get guys out and/or finish off games.

Things got sideways in a hurry for Wake when he allowed a leadoff single to B.J. Upton to start the second and then, after Upton stole second, he surrendered a two-run blast to Delmon Young to put the Rays up 2-0.

Boston, meanwhile couldn't get anything going off Rays starter Edwin Jackson (5.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 3BB, 5K), who has earned two of his five wins this season against the Sox in the last month. Papi drew a two-out walk in the first, Ellsbury (1-3, R, SB) notched a two-out single (and stole second) in the third, and that was it for Boston baserunners in the first five innings.

Against a guy with four wins and an ERA over 6.00. Yikes.

While the Sox offense was gagging along, the Rays plated a couple more runs off Wake on an single by Jonny Gomes following a double by Delmon in the fourth and an RBI single by Jorge Velandia (WTF is this guy?!) after Aki Iwamura had walked and stole second with two outs in the fifth.

Faced with a 4-0 deficit and a crappy starter, Boston finally woke up and realized what was going on and struck for three runs off Jackson in the sixth, but as usual the damage could have been so much greater.

Julio Lugo, the hero of last night's game, started the inning off with a solid single to left, and after Ellsbury walked, Alex Cora (2-4, 2R, BI) blooped a single in front of Young in right to load the bases with no outs.

BFD--how many times have we been here before in the last couple of weeks and came away with one or no runs?

But the Sox caught a break when Papi's weak infield roller ended up in no-man's land for a freak single that scored Lugo with Boston's first run and re-loaded the bases, and after Mike Lowell struck out (he's now fanned 15 times in the last 10 games), J.D. Drew turned an 0-2 count into a six-pitch walk for another cheap run, and suddenly the Rays lead was cut in half at 4-2.

Boston continued to play 90' baseball when Coco Crisp followed that series of infield events with a ringing single to center to score Cora and set up another bases loaded situation, this time with one out, for Eric Hinske.

That's when the recent sacks full futility reared its ugly head as Hinske, spelling for the injured Youk, who missed his seventh straight game, bounced a meek grounder right back up the box for the unconventional 1-2-3 double play, and once again an opportunity to take control of a game went by the wayside.

Wouldn't you know the Rays would make them pay for it, too, when Tavarez came in to relieve Wakefield for the sixth and promptly gave up two singles and a fielder's choice grounder that scored Tampa Bay's fifth run, and that run would be the one that ensured Boston would not achieve the sweep they had so desperately needed heading into this series.

Boston came a run closer when Cora homered (!) off Dan Wheeler to lead off the 8th, his first longball since late April, but the Rays got the last laugh as well as a measure of redemption when Al Reyes, the goat of last night's game and two other Sox come-from-behind wins, pitched a 1-2-3 9th, including fanning pinch hitter Jason Varitek, the man who tied the game with a 9th inning homer last night, to end the game.

And so the Sox head back to Beantown for the final home stand of the regular season beginning Tuesday against Oakland clutching a slim 1 1/2 game lead in the East, and although the team is secure in the knowledge that they will be dancing in the postseason, the uneasy feeling surrounding the physical and mental health of this club will be the biggest topic of conversation for the next few weeks.

Oh well, it's not like we're not used to it.

Enjoy the off day.