Game Preview: Rays at Sox GM2

Jackson (3-4, 3.70) vs. Beckett (5-4, 4.30)
Game 2 of 3 705 ESPN @ Fenway Park

The Sox hope to get the second game against the Rays in tonight, especially since it was switched to a nationally televised game and they will have a chance to regain first place in the AL East with a win, but if Mother Nature has a say in the matter don't count on it.

It's currently raining in Boston (what else is new) and the forecast calls for intermittent showers all night long making a delay or postponement a definite possibility, so we'll have to wait and see if the weathermen are wrong, as usual.

If the game does get played as scheduled there will be some significant changes to the starting lineup, and this time I'm not talking about Boston's.

Yesterday the Rays sat All Star outfielder Carl Crawford after he took a trip to see Dr. James Andrews regarding a knee problem he has been experiencing; needless to say a trip to Dr. Andrews office is never a good thing for an athlete.

Crawford did pinch hit and grounded out in the 8th inning of the loss, and although he is not at 100% he is expected to be in the lineup tonight.

That's a good thing for Tampa Bay because first baseman and team home run leader Carlos Pena will not be in the lineup tonight or for the foreseeable future as he was placed on the 15 day DL with a broken finger sustained when he was hit by a pitch from Justin Masterson in the first inning of last night's game, according to MLB.com.

The loss of Pena and the injury to CC along with closer Troy Percival being on the DL are huge blows for a club attempting to hang on to its tenuous grip of first place and could spell the beginning of the end of the good times for the major league's most surprising team this season.

If the Sox are going to capitalize on the Rays misfortunes they will have to get another solid start from Josh Beckett and hope for another disaster by Rays starter Edwin 'up & down' Jackson.

Beckett has pitched well in his last two starts, surrendering just four earned runs over 13 innings while recording 19 strikeouts, but all he's got is a loss and a no decision to show for it. Still his efforts are a marked improvement from his previous two starts when he allowed 11 runs, 18 hits and 5 homers in 12 2/3 innings.

Jackson has been erratic all year, alternating terrific outings with miserable ones, and the Rays never know which version of Jackson is going to show up. In his last two starts he's given up 7 runs and 14 hits 11 innings, going 1-1, but before that he had allowed just 1 earned run over three starts covering 20 1/3 innings, although he didn't receive a decision in any of those games.

This season he is 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA in two starts against the Sox while Beckett is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts against the Rays this year, including his 13-strikeout gem in an April loss.

So the game will most likely come down to which starter performs up to his potential, and will major offensive weapons missing from both teams someone else will have to step up and provide the firepower in order to get his team a win, like JD Drew and coco Crisp did last night.

The battle for first place continues tonight, and the Sox have a change to regain the top spot with a win.

Weather permitting.