Beckett's good but Shields is better as Rays sweep Sox

Rays 3, Sox 0
WP: Shields (3-1)
LP: Beckett (2-2)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-None; TB-Longoria (3)

SUMMARY:
Josh Beckett pitched a hell of a game in his first outing since skipping a start with a stiff neck, but Rays starter James Shields was even better, limiting the Sox to just 2 hits in leading the Rays to a series sweep and a share of first place.

No, that is not a misprint - the Rays are now in first place. Check the skies for flying pieces of pork.

SUPERSTAR: Shields 9IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 7K
The young righty was in top form today, holding the high-powered Boston offense to a pair of singles and a walk while out-pitching last year's Cy Young runner up, Beckett.

THE BIGGEST LOSER(s): Boston hitters 1BB, 2H, 0R
The paltry showing today capped a series in which the team tallied a grand total of 17 hits and 5 runs in 3 games.

Against the Rays.

Even without Big Papi for two games and Sean Casey, this output is pathetically putrid.

RECAP:
Let me start off by saying I didn't see a minute of this game.

Let me follow that up by saying how happy I am that I didn't.

You see instead of watching the Rays and Sox play identity swap, I was at my son's Little League tournament, where our team played and won three games today and wound up the champs of our division.

So instead of watching Josh Beckett (7IP, 4H, 2R, 1ER, 1BB, 13K) plow through the Rays batters for seven innings, only to see a couple of miscues and hits turn a potential masterpiece into another kind of piece, I was part of an exciting series in which our team scored 38 runs and beat the best team in our division in a Texas tiebreaker in the championship game this evening.

And to say I had more fun being part of that than watching the Rays first ever sweep of the Red Sox would be an understatement of epic proportions.

Needless to say after spending the entire weekend at the ballfields and after hearing how the Sox lost this game today, I have no desire to do a full report on this game, never mind watch the recording of it on my DVR.

No, right now I am going to sink into my couch, think about all the excitement I was involved in in this tourney, and relish the fact that my son played a huge part in bringing a championship to our league.

At least I got to see some great things on a diamond this weekend.

Which is more than I can say for the skidding Sox.

Maybe when I wake up tomorrow I will watch the game and try to make sense of the fact that the Rays are now in first place in the AL East, percentage points ahead of the Sox.

Then again maybe I'll just stare at our championship medals and think positive thoughts.

Great job, GLLL Braves!

Red Sox, not so much.

RECORD: 15-12
STREAK: L5
LST 10: 5-5
AL EAST: Tied for 1st
UP NEXT: Off Mon, Tue vs. TOR