Series Preview: Red Sox @ Tampa Bay

Red Sox (15-9, 1st in AL East) at
Tampa Bay Rays (10-13, 4th in AL East)
3 game series @ Tropicana Field, St. Pete
Game 1 Fri 705
Wakefield (2-0, 3.96) vs. Garza (0-0, 9.00)
Game 2 Sat 705
Buchholz (1-1, 4.79) vs. Jackson (2-2, 4.63)
Game 3 Sun 140
Beckett (2-1, 5.12) vs. Shields (2-1, 3.30)

What to watch for: Wakefield's dominance at the Dome
It's no secret that Tim Wakefield loves to pitch at the dingy (yet improving) Dome known as Tropicana Field, home of the Rays. In 14 career starts there, Wake has a stellar 9-1 record with a 2.41 ERA, having surrendered just 71 hits and 27 earned runs in 101 innings of work under the Teflon-tarped structure.

His lone loss came at the end of last season, September 23rd, when he gave up 7 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings as the Sox lost, 5-4.

Who to watch for: 3B Evan Longoria .282 (11-39)/2HR/7R/8RBI in 12 GP
The rookie with the celebrity-esque name and the Hollywood-esque game has been the talk of the town since spring training, when his play dictated he should have made the big club but instead he was sent to AAA, supposedly for monetary reasons.

Two weeks later he was in the bigs, and a week after that the team dispelled the money talk when they signed the slick fielding third baseman to a long term contract, locking up a player whose talent and attitude should make him an All Star-caliber player for many years to come.

Preview:
The Red Sox make their first trip to Tropicana Field this season for a 3-game set against the improving, no longer 'Devil' Rays.

And when they take the Turf Field tonight, they will find much has changed since their last trip to Pinellas County in September.

For one thing the 'Devil' has been exorcised from the name, making the team just the plain old 'Rays', although everyone still refers to them as the Devil, or D, Rays.

The next big change is the unis and team colors. Gone is the olive green and white, and in is Royal blue and yellow.

Both moves were criticised heavily at first, but now the new merchandise is flying off the shelves and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone sporting the old rainbow turquoise/purple/black garb anymore.

Hey, anything to separate yourselves from a decade of last places finishes, right?

The changes have not been strictly cosmetic, though. The new ownership has increased the team payroll from $24 million in 2007 to 43 million in '08, and the brass has locked up key players such as James Shields, Carl Crawford, Longoria and Carlos Pena to multi-year deals and signed significant contributors such as closer Troy Percival and ex-Sox utility man Eric Hinske in the offseason.

In other words, these aren't your relocated grandfather's Devil Rays anymore.

So far the results of these changes have been mixed. While the record, attitude and effort have improved significantly, attendance is still down and the euphoria of a terrific spring and the addition of exciting players like Longoria and starter Matt Garza, who was acquired from Minnesota for malcontent slugger Delmon Young, has not carried over the way management had hoped.

Still, the aura surrounding the team has improved dramatically. The culture of losing, so prevalent here for the last decade, is eroding thanks to positive players like 2007 Comeback Player of the Year and MVP candidate Pena and clubhouse cutup and seasoned vet Percival, resulting in a team that believes it has to chance to win every night, rather than a club just waiting to take its next beating.

Which is why this should be such an interesting series this weekend.

The Rays have always played the Sox, and the Stanks for that matter, tough, losing more than they win but always proving to be a thorn the side of the perennial beasts of the AL East.

With the new regime and attitude, things should be no different this year.

The rotation is the first place these changes should be noticed. Even with ace/2007 strikeout king Scott Kazmir on the DL, the Rays will throw a formidable trio at the Sox this weekend.

Tonight's starter, Garza, is fresh off the DL with an ulnar nerve injury, but the Rays plan on the young righty being a cornerstone of the rotation for years to come and not the next Juan Guzman, the last big pitching signee to get hurt in his first start for the club.

Tomorrow Edwin Jackson, an annual prospect who showed excellent signs of fulfilling his promise with two quality starts to begin the year, gets the nod. He has regressed in his last two starts but can be dominant if he's on.

And Sunday the #2 starter Shields will take on the Sox ace, Josh Beckett, who missed his last start with a stiff neck/flu.

All in all it shapes up to be a solid series. The Sox were hot until the Angles cooled them off, but that was with a depleted squad. The Rays are hot, having swept the Jays in Orlando, and brimming with the confidence it takes to knock off the top team in the division. And the Trop should be packed this weekend, giving the owners reason to smile.

Who knows, maybe even the majority of fans will be rooting for the home town team this time.