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.

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Sox clinch playoff berth as Rays closer gags again

Sox 8, Tampa Bay 6
WP: Gagne (4-2)
LP: Reyes (2-4)
SV: Papelbon (36)
HRs: BOS- Tek (15), Drew (10), Lugo (8); TB- Pena, 2 (42)

SUMMARY
The Red Sox became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff berth as their win coupled with the Tigers loss guaranteed their postseason spot; all that's left to be determined is whether they will enter as the AL East champs or the Wild Card.

The berth was in doubt after Javier Lopez coughed up a 5-3 eighth inning lead, but Rays closer Al Reyes blew his third save against Boston when he allowed three runs in the ninth, and Jonathan Papelbon needed just 12 pitches to lock the win down.

#1 STUNNER Varitek 3-3, 1R, 2BI, BB, HR
The Captain came through in the clutch again when he led off the ninth inning with a game-saving home run. It was Tek's 2nd homer in as many nights, and his three hits nearly matched his total for the last 10 games.

Just when we needed him most...

GAGME Reyes 1IP, 4H, 3ER, 1BB, 2HRs
The Sox are so far up in this guy's skull right now they can see what he's thinking about wearing on the links next week. Reyes blew his third save of the season against Boston, and in 7 outings against them he has allowed 13 hits and 8 earned runs in 7 innings of work for a 10.29 ERA.

Honorable Mention: Javier Lopez dude, you're bought in to do one job--get the opponent's big lefty bat out, not allow a game-changing homer to said slugger

RECAP
In a season chock full of firsts it's only fitting that the Sox became the first team to clinch a playoff spot tonight.

Now if only they can work on being the last team standing come the end of October we'll be all set.

For a change Boston won a game that it looked destined to lose, whereas a week ago it probably wouldn't have, but despite being shorthanded and under intense scrutiny brought on by their near historic collapse, they have come down here to Tampa Bay and taken care of business and earned the right to play postseason ball.

Not that it was easy, of course. Nothing ever is with this team.

The Sox got a decent six innings out of fading starter Daisuke Matsuzaka (6.2, 6H, 5ER, 3BB, 7K, HR) tonight; unfortunately he pitched 6 2/3 innings. But for the first six innings of the game he gave his team a chance to win, and he avoided the big inning that has plagued so many of his appearances this season.

Matsuzaka was handed an early lead when the Sox plated a run on two bunts (base hit by Coco, sacrifice by Lugo) and another clutch hit by Jacoby Ellsbury (2-5, 2B, BI), a single blasted through the box that scored Coco with the game's first run in the third.

In the next inning Boston would strike for two runs against young Rays righty Andy Sonnanstine (5.1IP, 8H, 5ER, 2BB, 1K, HR), the first coming home on an RBI double by J.D. Drew following a walk to Mike Lowell, and then after Sonnanstine wild pitched Drew to third, Cap'n Tek came up with his first big hit of the evening, a solid single to right to score Drew and make the score 3-0 Sox.

The three-run cushion would be shredded next inning when Comeback player of the Year shoo-in Carlos Pena (2-3, 2R, 4BI) belted his first big hit of the night, a solo shot on Dice-K's second pitch of the top of the fourth that sailed into the right field seats and down the stairwell to the concourse below.

Hmmmm, wonder where the Rays got this guy?

Matsuzaka ran into more trouble when he gave up a one-out single to Delmon Young, and after the rookie right fielder stole second, Greg Norton singled him home to slice the Sox lead to 3-2.

Dice-K buckled down from there as he struck out Jonny Gomes and Dioner Navarro to end the inning, and after both clubs exchanged 1-2-3 fifth innings, Boston would pad its lead when it scored another pair of runs in the sixth.

After Ortiz flied out against Sonnanstine to lead off the sixth, Lowell (2-4, 2R) dropped a single into right, but with Drew coming up, an inning-ending double play was just as likely as a two-run homer.

Fortunately for Sox fans Drew (2-4, 2R, 3BI) chose to surprise everyone for a change when he rocked a 3-1 offering from Sonnanstine into the same right field location as Pena's shot, a drive that pushed the Boston lead to 5-2 and with only four innings left to play it looked like that elusive 15th win for Dice was finally in the bag.

As Coach Corso said on College Gameday this morning, Not so fast my friends.

Matsuzaka gave one run back in the bottom of the inning when he gave up another RBI single to centerfield by Norton, but with the bullpen in turmoil Tito decided to bring him back out for the seventh inning despite Dice exhibiting signs that he might be fatigued.

That decision, like so many other theses past few weeks, backfired almost immediately on Boston when Matsuzaka walked fellow countryman Aki Iwamura and some dude named Jorge Velandia after getting two quick outs in the seventh, and with Pena up next that forced Francona to go to his pen to bring in the lefty specialist Lopez to face the sizzling slugger.

Yet another decision that backfired.

Lopez added his name to the lengthy list of Sox relievers who have imploded in crucial game situations during their precipitous fall from grace when after he got ahead of Pena 0-2 he allowed the one time Boston first baseman to work the count full before he pounced on a 3-2 pitch from the sidearmer and sent it soaring high into the Teflon sky.

By the time the ball landed in the right field seats, the lead was gone, the Rays fans were raucous, and it felt like the only time this team could win was when Josh Beckett was on the mound.

Mike Timlin came on and got Upton to strike out to end the inning, but the damage was done, and it looked as if only a miracle would save Boston from losing another heartbreaking game this month.

And a miracle it must have been if Eric freakin' Gagme got the win.

Dan Wheeler came in for the eighth and promptly retired Papi (K), Lowell (K) and Drew (fly out), and then Tito backed up his claim that he was not going to back away from using the embattled reliever in tight situations, and despite giving up his requisite baserunner on a two-out walk to Gomes, Gagme had a pretty routine inning for a change.

Which led to the ninth inning theatrics.

Al Reyes has had a decent season for the Rays, establishing himself as a reliable and failry inexpensive closer for this relatively inexpensive team, but for some reason when he faces Boston his stoic face belies the queasiness he must feel deep down inside.

The last time he faced the Sox, September 12th in Boston, Reyes surrendered a two-run homer to Papi to hand the Sox a 5-4 come-from-behind victory, and in three of his last five appearances against the Sox he had allowed at least one run.

Too bad for rays fans he didn't allow just one run tonight.

Captain Tek led off the frame, and when he took Reyes' second pitch and sliced it the other way for a game-tying home run, the Boston half of the crowd went wild, the Boston dugout went wild, and you could almost sense that that particular hit could be the one that salvages the division title for Boston.

It had that kind of feel to it.

As if that weren't bad enough, the next batter Eric Hinske slammed a Reyes offering down the right field line for a double, and after Coco popped out, Julio Lugo stepped up with a chance to exact revenge on his old team just as Pena had done two innings earlier.

And exact he did when he turned on the first pitch from Reyes and sent a scud missile into the left field seats to give Boston an 8-6 lead and send the Nation into a fist-pumping frenzy by providing the follow-up blow that assured us the comeback would be complete without having to sit through extra innings.

Provided Paps could get the save.

When Papelbon breezed through three Rays batters using just a dozen pitches, one leg of Boston's long, rough, exciting journey was complete. The Sox, like most contending clubs, had set four goals for themselves: make the playoffs, win the division, win the pennant, take home the championship.

First mission accomplished.

Over the next few weeks we will get to find out how much more of that plan will be fulfilled.

Until then, enjoy the fact that no matter what this team will be playing meaningful baseball in October again.

And after the stench of last season, it's okay to smell the roses, even if it's not the bouquet we've all been waiting 11 years for.

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Beckett wins 20th to help Boston end losing streak

Sox 8, Tampa Bay 1
WP: Beckett (20-6)
LP: Kazmir (13-9)
HRs: BOS-Papi (32), Lowell (20), Varitek (14)

Believe it!

SUMMARY
The Red Sox bounced back from a brutal four game losing streak with a potential season-salvaging win as the Boston batters finally broke out of their slump and helped All Star ace Josh Beckett earn his career-high 20th victory.

#1 STUNNER Beckett 6IP, 4H, 1ER, 2BB, 8K
The most consistent pitcher all season for the Sox became the winningest pitcher in the majors by doing what he's done best this year: carry the Sox to victory when his team needs him most.

Beckett won 20 for the first time in his career, became the first hurler to do so since Bartolo Colon in 2005, and virtually locked up his first Cy Young award.

GAGME Coco Crisp 0-3, BB, 3Ks, 6LOB
Crisp took home the dreaded Silver Sombrero; as if three strikeouts weren't bad enough, the first two came with the bases loaded and two outs. I realize he is playing with an aching back, but if this is the kind of game he's going to turn in, you might as well leave him out of the lineup, Tito.

RECAP
So this is what it feels like.

Seems like it's been a long time since the Nation experienced what it was like for the Sox to win a game; technically it had only been six days, but metaphysically it feels like three lifetimes of choking ago.

Leave it to the pitcher who has been Boston's rock of consistency all season, Josh Beckett, to get his stumbling club back on track. After all, he's the man who helped his club to a large division lead when he jumped out to an 11-1 record, helped the AL gain homefield advantage when he won the All Star game, and has now ripped off a 7-1 streak down the stretch, including two huge wins in the past week that should have him clearing his mantle for his Cy Young award.

And make no mistake win #20 was all him, because thanks to a lot more un-clutch (new word-they've earned it) hitting by Boston this game was in the balance for most of the night, and it wasn't until both starters were long and the Sox launched three late homers that things got out of hand.

Boston didn't figure to catch a break tonight with the opposing pitcher being Scott Kazmir. The young lefty has a particularly good time pitching against the cream of the AL East, and even though his won-loss record against them (1-2 in 07, 6-4 career)might not show it, his 12Ks/9IP speaks volumes about how his stuff fares against the Sox.

But Kaz was not his usual sharp self, and although he added nine more strikeouts to his staggering career total against the Sox, he also walked four, allowed four hits and hit two batters in just five innings of work.

The trouble began with his first batter of the night as Jacoby Ellsbury (2-4, 2R, BB) continued his campaign for president of Red Sox Nation when he led off the game with a bounding double down the first base line.

A sac bunt by Dustin Pedroia moved the speedster to third, and then for some reason Rays catcher Dioner Navarro decided to try and pick Ellsbury off third with one out and Papi at the plate. The errant throw (Iwamura was probably just shocked to see a throw coming) sailed into foul territory, and Ellsbury scampered home with the game's fist run.

Unfortunately Beckett would follow his fellow starters suit and give the run right back when he surrendered a pair of walks and then an RBI double to ROY candidate Delmon Young to knot the game at one in the bottom of the inning.

After both pitchers worked around baserunners in the second, Boston put a pair of runs on the board in the third, thanks mostly to Kazmir's wildness.

The lefty started the inning off by plunking Eric Hinske with his first pitch, and after ellsbury struck out, Kazmir walked Pedroia to bring up Big Papi with two on and one out.

Mired in a 1-15 slump and with rumors swirling around he was going to miss this game due to his nagging knee, Papi stepped in and did what he does best lately-swung at the first pitch and laced it into right field for an RBI single to give Boston a 2-1 lead.

Kazmir seemed to escape the jam when he got Mike Lowell (1-5, R, BI, 3K) to fan for the second out, but then he uncorked a wild pitch that bounced off the plate and scored Pedroia, and when he followed that blunder by walking Bobby Kielty and hitting Varitek with a pitch, it looked as if the sox were gonna blow the roof off the Trop in the early goings tonight.

Yeah, right.

Coco Crisp, coming off three days rest and two games off to rest his sore back, took one pitch for a ball and then hacked at the next three, and by the time he got done chopping wood the Sox had let yet another bases loaded opportunity go by the wayside.

That line is getting ridiculously redundant.

Still, staked to a 3-1 lead Beckett turned into the Beckett we have grown accustomed to, and after allowing two out singles to B.J. Upton and Young in the third, the big righty didn't allow another baserunner for the next three innings, which constituted the rest of his outing.

Kazmir lasted only through the fifth inning due to the short leash, errr strict pitch count manager Joe Maddon has on his young stud, but his final frame was enough to want Papa Joe to get him out of there anyway.

Boston loaded the bases again on a single by Pedroia, an "excuse me" check swing dribbler by Ortiz, and after a fly out by Lowell, a walk to Kielty. But once AGAIN with the chance to blow the game wide open right in the palm of their hands, the Sox whiffed, literally & figuratively as Tek and Coco (again) went down on strikes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but does this persistent problem represent major playoff foreshadowing to anybody else?

With Tampa Bay having gone to the beleaguered pen, the game was all over but the final tally, and when the Captain made up for his missed opportunity when he blasted a solo homer to lead off the 8th inning against Gary Glover, it opened the floodgates for a rash of runs that would turn this semi-close contest into a rout.

In the 9th Jeff Ridgeway took a can of gasoline to the mound, spilled a trail around the diamond when he put two men on base with a walk and HBP, then lit the match when he served up an opposite field bomb by Big Papi that brought three runs home and gave the Nation in attendance one more reason to piss off the few Rays fans on hand.

Maddon tried to stop the bleeding when he replaced Ridgeway with Grant Balfour, but Mike Lowell atoned for his horrible night when he drove Balfour's first pitch into the left field seats to make the score 8-1 Boston, and from there it was as if a giant weight had been lifted from everyone associated with this team's shoulders.

Things went so well that Eric the Goat Gagme tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th, and from then it was just time to wait out the score from the New York game to see if Boston gained any ground with this win.

After New York came back from 4-0 down to tie the Blue Jays up in the bottom of the 9th, Toronto got a homer from Greg Zaun in the bottom of the 14th to win the game.

So the lead in back to 2 1/2, Josh Beckett proved he is without a doubt the league's best pitcher, Jacoby Ellsbury keeps contributing in so many ways, Papi had a huge night when he wasn't supposed to play, and the Sox won a game in which they stranded 10 baserunners and struck out 17 times.

Suddenly things don't seem so bleak after all.

At least for one day.

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Series preview: Sox @ Tampa Bay (aka the biggest series of the season)

Boston (90-63) at Tampa Bay (63-90)
3-game series @ Tropicana Field

The Trop, located in the skeevy outskirts of lovely downtown St. Pete, will be the site of Boston's biggest series of the season this weekend

Standings: Boston up by 1 1/2 gms ov NYY, 27 gms ov TB
Season Series: Boston leads 11-4

Probable pitching matchups:
GM1 Fri 710 Beckett (19-6, 3.20) vs. Kazmir (13-8, 3.54)
GM2 Sat 710 Matsuzaka (14-12, 4.41) vs. Sonnanstine (6-9, 5.68)
GM3 Sun 140 Wakefield (16-11, 4.73) vs. Jackson (4-15, 5.99)

Preview:
The Red Sox arrive here in the beautiful Bay area with their tails between their legs, losers of five of the last six games; with a charging New York team that has nearly devoured an entire 14 1/2 game lead in a matter of weeks nipping at their heels; and with blogloads of negative pub documenting every step of what could be the latest--and greatest--in a string of historical collapses.

Did I mention that Boston's bookend slugger Manny is still out with a nagging injury, their top two set up men are either injured or ineffective, their closer allowed a grand slam the last time out, and they will have to face Sox killer Scott Kazmir tonight in Game 1 at the Trop?

Not like there's any pressure this weekend or anything.

In a stunning turn of events in what has suddenly become a stomach-turning season, this final series against the division team with a mirror image record to that of the Sox has become the most important series of the season, because if Boston were to lose 2 of 3 here and New York was to take a pair from Toronto in the Bronx, then the division lead will have slipped from Boston's grasp for the first time since late April.

Like I said, no pressure.

The good news for Boston is they have their ace and most consistent pitcher throwing for them tonight, Josh Beckett, and he will be bidding to become the majors' first 20-game winner.

The bad news is he will have to defeat the man who treats the Sox like a AA affiliate, Scott Kazmir, who seems to save up his best starts for when he faces the Bosox.

Despite a 1-2 mark against the Sox this season, Kaz has enjoyed great success against the potent Boston lineup; last time out the lefty fanned 10 Boston batters in a 1-0 Rays win at Fenway on September 10th, and on the season Kazmir has struck out 40 Sox in 30 2/3 innings of work. He also owns a sparkling 2.41 ERA against them, and will be trying for his 5th consecutive victory when he takes the hill tonight.

Beckett, meanwhile, has become the most vital cog in the Sox championship machine, because it appears he is currently the only one of the staff who can secure a win for this team.

The only win for Boston in the last week came courtesy of Beckett's manhandling of New York and Chien Ming Wang in Boston's 10-1 victory last Saturday. Since then the Sox have dropped four straight in some unimaginable ways, and if they were to lose tonight they would own a 5-game losing streak for the first time since last August...

...a streak which we in the Nation refer to as the Boston Massacre II.

Their backs are against the wall, the chips are down, the odds aren't in their favor, they've got a long road ahead of them and any other doomsday cliche you can think of applies to Boston boys at this point.

Unfortunately I won't be able to attend any of the contests this weekend, thanks to my son's Little League and some anniversary thingy my wife keeps harping about, but the way things have been going it might be better to listen to the annoying anecdotes of Joe Magrane rather than be subjected to potential ridicule from Rays fans in person

But the equation is simple: win a pair of games here, then go home and do the same against Oakland and Minny and the division should be theirs and the Nation can take a deep breath, relax, and maybe enjoy the postseason baseball.

Lose tonight and it might be all over but the pouting for the Sox, as the dreams of a division title, home field advantage, and another championship could dissipate like plumes of smoke from one of Tampa's finest hand-rolled cigars.

No pressure though, Josh.

NOTES: according to the Globe, Manny will be out of the lineup again tonight, but Coco Crisp will return to action after missing two games with a minor back injury...Youk will also remain out of the lineup with the banged-up wrist, and Hinske will continue to spell him at first...Kielty will get the call in left over J.D. Drew, a no-brainer with Drew's .212 mark vs. lefties...Ellsbury will lead off again, while Lugo moves from nine to eight...the Rays will be without the services of left fielder Carl Crawford for the rest of the season; minor league phenom Justin Ruggiano was brought up to replace CC on the roster..Carlos Pena has 4 homers and 15 RBIs vs. Boston this season

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Just like old times: Papi powers Sox to walk-off win

Sox 5, Tampa Bay 4
WP: Papelbon (1-2)
LP: Reyes (2-3)
HRs: BOS-Papi, 2 (31); TB-Upton (24)

SUMMARY
David Ortiz conjured up memories of 2004 when he launched not one but two home runs tonight at Fenway, the first a three-run bomb in the third inning that got the Sox back in the game and the second a two-run shot off closer Al Reyes that won it in the bottom of the ninth.

#1 STUNNER ahh, let's see, who's deserving, oh yeah...Papi 2-5, 2R, 5BI, 2HR
On a night when he surpassed the 30HR/100RBI plateau for the fifth straight season and became only the third member of the Sox to do so, David Ortiz provided the Nation with a huge feel-good win and some valuable breathing room heading into the Stankees series.

PAN's FAUN Reyes 1/3IP, 1H, 1BB, 2ER, HR
Nearly one month to the day that he blew a 1-0 lead by allowing two runs to the Sox in the bottom of the ninth, Reyes must have had a major case of deja vu because this was a near carbon copy of that meltdown. Actually, this one was a lot better, or should I say worse?

RECAP
He's as good as Bird.

He's as bad as Snakes on a Plane.

He's Super Papi.

How else do you explain a man who has the strength to lift an entire Nation on his back, the ability to come through in the clutch when his team needs him the most, and the power to please a bloodthirsty fanbase as well as the Madison Avenue suits with his epic blasts and Vitamin Water smile?

I mean the guy missed most of five games in late July with two achy shoulders that have been nagging him ever since, then sent shockwaves through the Nation when he announced that he will undergo offseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, a problem that flared up as recently as Monday when he needed the night off, and now he hits his first walk-off home run of 2007?

If that's not superheroic I don't know what is.

David Ortiz provided his team and fans with a huge come-from-behind victory over the resurgent Rays tonight when he blasted a pair of homer off a pair of Tampa Bay pitchers and although each homer was huge in it's own right it was the one that travelled the shortest distance that provided the biggest bang.

The Rays had jumped out to a 4-0 lead before I had even arrived home from my son's practice when they plated four in the first off shaky starter Jon Lester (3.2IP, 8H, 4ER, 4BB, 5K ) on a pair of run-scoring singles and a two-run homer by centerfielder B.J. Upton.

As usual the Sox had their share of scoring chances fall by the wayside, something that could be expected with Mike Lowell sitting this one out with what could be food poisoning and Jacoby Ellsbury on the bench nursing a sore wrist courtesy of his collision with the Wall the other night.

In the bottom of the first Pedroia singled with one out but was doubled off first when Carlos Pena snagged Papi's hot shot down the line for a bang-bang inning-ending double play, and Boston left the bases loaded in the second when Eric Hinske grounded out following a single by J.D. Drew, a double by Brandon Moss and a walk to Coco Crisp.

But have no fear, because in the third everyone would find out that the old Big Papi was indeed still here.

After Rays starter Edwin Jackson (6IP, 8H, 3R, 3BB, 6K) allowed a leadoff single to Julio Lugo and a one-out walk to Pedroia, Ortiz stepped up with one thing in mind--getting the team back within striking distance of a win.

Then again we're talking about a team that just pulled off a win after trailing by seven runs in the fourth inning, so I guess 4-0 wasn't exactly the edge of the abyss or anything.

Still, when Ortiz turned on an 0-1 Jackson offering and deposited it over the visiting bullpen in right, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off everyone's shoulders, the weight of having to win this game with New York breathing down their necks.

Thanks to his three-run jack that cut the Rays lead to 4-3, that weight got a hell of a lot lighter.

Handed a new ball game Lester couldn't take advantage, and when he allowed two base runners with two outs in the third and hit the 97-pitch plateau, Tito pulled him in favor of Tavarez in order to preserve the young lefty's arm as well as his psyche.

Julie came in and immediately got Brendan Harris to hit into a fielder's choice ground out, and he would go on to provide three innings of no-hit, no-run ball, another sorely needed shot in the arm for a recently sagging bully.

Unfortunately the Sox would keep amassing baserunners only to leave them stranded on the basepaths: two in the fifth, one in the sixth, two in the seventh.

Time was ticking down and Boston was running out of innings, but at least the bullpen kept the deficit at one run, a key factor in the comeback to follow.

Manny D. relived Julie with two out in the seventh and retired pinch hitter Greg Norton on a nifty behind-the-back glove save right back to the mound, and he was victimized by a single that fell in between Pedroia (2-4, R) and Drew before retiring Aki Iwamura for the second out of the eighth.

Tito then summoned Hideki Okajima to pitch to Carl Crawford with an important insurance run in scoring position, and Oki came through big time when he fooled CC with a knee-buckling curve to end the threat.

The Sox went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning against Dan Wheeler, then Francona called upon his closer to come on and keep the game at 4-3 heading into Boston's last at bat.

Papelbon accomplished that mission when he retired Pena, Upton and Delmon Young on 12 pitches, setting the stage for the ninth inning fireworks.

On Aug 14th Reyes entered a game at Fenway with the Rays leading 1-0 and promptly served up a game-tying homer to Lowell a double to Tek and a game-winning hit by Coco, so when he walked Lugo to lead off the ninth it had to seem like deja vu all over again.

He did manage to get Pedroia to fly out for the first out of the inning, but then up stepped the Big Man to the dish, and if you squinted real hard you could see the signs of yesteryear all over the place--screaming fans, pennant race, scared shitless opposing closer.

After working the count to 3-1 it looked like they were doing the old "unintentional intentional walk" thing, until Reyes left the next pitch in Papi's wheelhouse, and he turned on it and lofted it high but not particularly deep into the right field corner.

Too bad for the Rays Delmon Young took a circuitous route to the spot the ball would land, because when it popped out of the glove of a fan ion the front row of the bleachers, it was clear had the confused kid reached the correct spot at the wall he would have had a decent shot at making a game-saving catch.

Alas the ball did find the pay dirt beyond the wall, and as Papi rounded the bases on that familiar journey preparing to get slammed on the head by his giddy awaiting teammates, the Fenway Faithful jumped up and down in delight, I jumped out of my seat screaming, and all seemed right with the world again.

That's the kind of things superheroes can do for a city. And a Nation.

Bring on the Stanks!

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Game Preview: Tampa Bay @ Sox

Jackson (4-14, 6.00) vs. Lester (4-0, 4.47)
Fenway 705

I don't have much time to preview this one or wrap up last night's slugfest because I'm on my way to my son's LL practice, but let's just say if Boston doesn't win this game and take the series, there is going to be a ton of hand-wringing going on in the Nation for the next 36 hours or so afterwards.

Boston's AL East lead currently sits at five games, meaning it cannot afford to lose tonight while the Stanks continue to pound the Jays. Should the Sox lose this game and New York wins the next two vs. Toronto (Boston is off tomorrow), the margin could be reduced to a measly 3 1/2 games by the time the Bummers come to town Friday night for the first of three games.

I don't think I need to point out to any of the Faithful that a 3 1/2 game lead coupled with another three-game Stankee sweep would be disastrous for Boston's hopes of securing their first division title since 1995.

Not that there's any pressure on Jon Lester to go out there and pitch lights out in order to prevent such a doomsday scenario from taking place or anything.

By the looks of the pitching matchups a win tonight is all but a lock. Although Edwin Jackson has pitched much better in the second half of the season, including a victory over Boston when he allowed just one run and five hits in six innings on Aug 22nd, he is still 10 games under .500 and has an ERA of 6.00.

Lester, meanwhile, continues to look more & more comfortable every time he puts another start under his belt and distances himself from the one-year absence from the game.

He has won his last three starts and in his last four he has allowed 16 hits and 8 earned runs in 25 1/3 innings for a 2.84 ERA, and more importantly he has appeared to be better, longer while also being faster and stronger.

Sorry, got caught up in all the Kanye cross-promoting.

Anyway, the Sox should be able to ride the strength of last night's come-from-behind beatdown and an improving young pitcher to a much-needed victory over the Rays and its worst starter.

If not tomorrow will be a very long and uncomfortable day in the Hub.

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Boston beats Tampa Bay despite missed extra point

Sox 16, Tampa Bay 10
WP: Corey (1-0)
LP: Switzer (0-1)
HRs: BOS-Ellsbury (3), Papi (29), Pedroia (7), Drew (8); TB-Pena (39), Harris (11)

"What kind of name is Dioner, anyway? Get the fuck out of my way!"

SUMMARY
Boston established another franchise first tonight when it became the first Sox team in history to win a game by six or more runs when it had trailed in the game by at least seven runs.

I know, it's a crazy fucking stat. Let's just call it a monster come-from-behind win and leave it at that.

#1 STUNNER Boston offense 16 runs, 20 hits, 4 walks
One night after getting stymied for no runs on five hits the Sox offense exploded on the hapless Rays pitching staff. Every member of the Boston lineup had at least one hit, and only Mike Lowell, who had four base knocks on the night, failed to record an RBI.

PAN's FAUN Tim Wakefield 3IP, 10H, 7ER, 0BB, 4K
For the second consecutive start Wakefield pitched like shit, and whether it's the back injury or another dead spell for his dancing knuckler, 19 hits and 13 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings ain't gonna cut it.

RECAP
And to think I nearly threw in the towel on this one.

Right after Carlos Pena hammered another "remember me" post-it note into the seats in center field for a three-run bomb that made the score 8-1 Devil Rays in the top of the fourth, I said "that's it" and turned the station to a car appraisal show on Discovery HD.

But then a funny thing happened. The show ended and I had already seen the episode of "Rides" that came on next, so I hit the last channel button just to see if the Sox had made a dent in the gigantic deficit.

I was somewhat shocked to see Julio Lugo barrelling over Rays catcher Dioner Navarro as the ball bounced away from home plate and the umpire signalling Lugo safe at home with Boston's fifth run, so much so that I ran to the back office where I had the game on the conventional TV and backed up the DVR to see what the hell I had missed.

Turns out Boston put together a nice rally after looking like leftover hamburger meat for most of the first few innings, but little did I or anyone else know that little four-run uprising would mark the beginning of an historic comeback.

A comeback seemed out of the question when Tampa Bay, winners of 13 of its last 17 contests, tuned up troubled Sox starter Tim Wakefield like Kid Rock on Tommy Lee, scoring four runs in the second inning on five hits including a Monster home run by Brendan Harris and RBI hits from Navarro (4-4, 3R, 2BI) and Aki Iwamura.

Birthday boy Jacoby Ellsbury got the Sox off the schneid of not scoring on the Rays in 17 innings when he launched a rocket into the Sox pen with one out in the third off Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine (3.1IP, 8H, 5ER, 1BB, 3K) to cut the deficit to 4-1, but that glimmer of hope seemed all for naught when Tampa Bay scored four more runs in the fourth, highlighted by Pena's mammoth blast to straightaway center off Kyle Snyder, his 39 longball of the season.

Did I mention the Sox had this guy last season and let him walk? Anyone see any Big Papi/Minnesota comparisons here? No? Okay.

Anyway, it was right about here that I clicked over to DHD and learned about the value of a restored 1965 Oldsmobile JetStar while the Boston lineup, despite a large number of Fenway no-shows due to the wet weather and woeful opponent, kept plugging away at Sonnanstine until they could get to the soft underbelly of the Rays pen.

Luckily for me the show ended, a repeat came on, and I got the chance to see the Sox make history for like the 45th time this season.

Cool.

The comeback started when Mike Lowell (4-5, 3R) and J.D. Drew led off the fourth with consecutive singles, and after Youk popped out, Coco followed with a single to right center to load the bases for Lugo with one out.

One day after I ripped Tito for using him in the leadoff spot Lugo (2-5, R, 2BI) proved he belongs in the rear when he laced a solid single to left to score Lowell, and when Kevin Cash, subbing as Wake's caddy due to Mirabelli's tweaked hammy, shot a single past Harris at second to plate two more runs, the score was suddenly 8-4 and early enough that a comeback no longer seemed out of the question.

Rays manager Joe Maddon removed Sonnanstine after that and brought in Scott Dohman, who promptly walked Ellsbury (2-5, R, 2BI) walked to reload the bases, and then Dustin Pedroia skied an 0-1 offering into center field where B.J. Upton camped under it and came up firing, and it looked like Lugo would be a dead duck at the plate.

And he would have been had the ball not bounced off Navarro's mask and squirted harmlessly away, and just for good measure Lugo plowed into the portly backstop as if to say "we must protect this house."

Or something like that.

Even though Papi flied out to end the inning the damage was done, both scoreboardical and psychological, and despite an RBI double by Iwamura (3-6, R, 3BI)off Javier Lopez ran the score to 9-5 in the fifth, the best of the Boston comeback was yet to come.

The fifth inning rally began exactly like the fourth, with Lowell and Drew (3-4, 4R, BI) leading off with singles and just waiting to get driven in by the other salivating Sox sluggers. This time Youk walked to load the bases, and the bottom of the lineup proceeded to deliver three consecutive run-scoring at bats: a sac fly by Coco(2-4, 2R, 2BI), an RBI double by Lugo, and a sac fly by Cash that was shallow enough for Delmon Young to nab Youk but his throw went up the line instead.

It was that kind of night for the Rays.

The score was now 9-8 Rays with four innings to go, but it would only take one more frame for Boston to put this one out of reach.

After Pena (3-5, R, 3RBI) singled to lead off the sixth, Tito brought in Bryan Corey to pitch to Upton. It took nine pitches for Corey to get Upton to strike out swinging, then only one pitch to induce Delmon Young to ground into an inning-ending double play, a feat that surely inspired the offense to do what came next.

The Sox would send 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, and six of those hitters would score as the Sox battered three Tampa Bay pitchers and officially turned a near-disastrous loss into an enjoyable, kick you heels off and relax type win.

Dustin Pedroia (2-5, R, 2BI) got the festivities started when he rocketed a solo shot into the Monster seats to tie the game at nine off Jon Switzer, and when Papi (2-4, 2R, BI) followed with a single to left, Switzer was gone and it was Grant Balfour's turn to get spanked.

Balfour allowed a single off the Wall to Lowell, then walked Drew to load the bases again for Boston, and that bought the struggling Youkilis (2-4, 2R, 3BI) to the plate with a chance to win the game at his sweaty, meaty fingertips.

Youk's second-half troubles have been well-documented(.239 since the break), and his recent 4-18 stretch had started the "should they get rid of Youk" talk radio crap all over again.
And then the chrome-domed overachiever crushed a 1-0 pitch from Switzer high and deep off the triangular seam of the Wall, a ball hit so hard it ricocheted all the way to right field, and by the time Youk pulled into third with his second triple of the season, the slump was over, the love was back, and the Rays were officially dead in the water.

But just to make sure, Coco knocked in a gassed Youk with a double, and then two batters and one pitcher later the now 24-year-old Ellsbury ripped a single into left center to score Coco and make the score 14-9, and Tampa Bay fans were left wondering how the fuck their baseball team could outscore their football team and still lose!

Game over, right?

Wrong again, ass breath.

After Manny D. pitched around a pair of singles in the top of the eighth, Boston decided to add to the carnage when David Ortiz and J.D. Drew took Juan 50 game 'roid suspension Salas yard, Papi's a classic Papi job into the bully on the first pitch of the inning and Drew's a straightaway number that rattled the camera stanchion in center one out later, an impressive shot that along with his two other hits silenced the sea of bashers for at least one day.

The only thing left of any consequence by now was the reappearance of banished, errr sore shouldered reliever Eric Gagme, who made his first appearance since Aug 26th when he took the mound for the ninth inning.

With a new 'do that makes him look less like Seth Rogen and more like Sasha Baron Cohen, the rested Gagme was an exact replica of tired-shouldered Gagme, allowing a single to Harris to lead off the inning and later a single to Navvaro that would bring Harris home with Gagme's 11th run allowed in 12 appearances with Boston.

But it didn't matter. The fans who were still there were just happy to have witnessed such a historical comeback, and the Faithful who had already left or clicked off the TV set didn't even know the former Cy Young winner turned future beer league closer was on the mound.

I'm just glad I wasn't one of them.

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Kazmir Karves his way through ragtag Sox lineup

Tampa Bay 1, Sox 0
WP: Kazmir (12-8)
LP: Schilling (8-7)
SV: Reyes (24)
HRs: None

SUMMARY
Rays ace Scott Kazmir continued his mastery of the Bosox by tossing seven innings of five-hit shutout ball, walking just two while striking out 10 Boston players in leading Tampa Bay to its 13th win in its last 17 games.

#1 STUNNER Kazmir 7IP, 5H, 2BB, 10K
With 10 more strikeouts tonight the 23-year-old lefty now has fanned 109 Boston batters in 96 1/3 career innings against the Sox.

PAN's FAUN Tito Francona
He is rewriting the book on juggling lineups this season, and I know he's hamstrung by injuries, but the starting nine he rolled out there tonight against a top-notch starter was an abomination.

RECAP
After following this team for the better part of 25 years and witnessing a plethora of pitiful lineups, perhaps due to the foggy onset of my 40's, I cannot remember an odder starting nine to take the field for the Sox than I watched line up against the Rays tonight.

And it starts right from the top.

Literallly and literally.

Terry Francona had already been strapped for solutions without the services of his mercurial left fielder and cleanup hitter Manny Ramirez for the past couple of weeks, and when word came out of Yawkey way that Papi was going to need the night off as well, presumably to rest his achy knee but more realistically due to his .147 lifetime average vs. Kazmir, well you knew what Tito might scratch together had the potential to be, shall we shay, unconventional.

How unconventional was it?

How about your 5' 9" second baseman, who has 8 homers and 52 RBI in his career, batting in Big Papi's #3 slot?

Not bad enough?

What about using your .240-hitting shortstop as your tablesetter, placing a guy at the top of the order who has a .249 OBP for the season in control of jump starting the offense?

Still not de,err impressed?

How do you explain burying electric rookie OBP machine Jacoby Ellsbury in the eight spot? Huh? I know he's facing a tough young lefty, but let the kid with the hottest hand on the club try to jump start the makeshift lineup?

I could go on about Bobby Kielty, he of the .319 slugging percentage, batting fifth, or having Alex Cora, mired in a 1-20 slump, bringing up the rear of this motley crew, but I don't want to harp.

Let's just say that Tito's merry ragtime band of a lineup cost the Sox this game and leave it at that.

Because against a pitcher like Kazmir, who has enjoyed some of the most successful games of his young career against this club was like sending Britney Spears out onstage first at an awards show.

A disaster waiting to happen.

The hard-luck victim of all this lineup lunacy was Mr. Curt Schilling, who for the third straight start contributed a quality start only to see his efforts get wasted due to a dearth of offense once again.

Schilling (6IP, 5H, ER, BB, 5K), who in his last three starts has allowed 19 hits and six earned runs in 19 innings for a 2.84ERA, showed more promising signs of fully recovering from his shoulder injury as he scattered five hits and a walk through the first five innnigs and only got into real trouble once, and that small indiscretion ended up costing him the win.

Greg Norton (2-3, R) got the winning rally started when he doubled over Ellsbury's head and off the scoreboard to lead off the fifth inning. Catcher Dioner Navarro, who ironically leads the Rays in sac bunts although he is portly and can't hit worth a lick, then moved Norton over to third, and four pitches later Josh Wilson launched a sac fly to right to score Norton with the games one and only run.

Not like that was the end of the excitement, though.

Aki Iwamura and Carl Crawford bot followed with two-out singles to put Schill and the Sox in a real jam, and the veteran had to know that any more runs allowed would make it drastically tougher for the lineup to comeback, and with Rays leading power man and longshot MVP candidate Carlos Pena at the dish, the game was basically on the line right then.

Schill merely got Pena to wave at a crowd-inspiring splitter to end the threat, and the way the old man escaped a tough spot just like the old days had the giddy Faithful believeing a comeback was just around the corner.

The Sox had put the leadoff batter on base in four of the first five innings, so when Varitek worked a walk to leadoff the bottom of the fifth the crowd could sense a potential rally was at hand, especially with Bostonian Idol Ellsbury coming to bat.

But Kaz induced the wunderkind to ground into a fielder's choice, forcing Tek at second, and then things got ugly from there.

After Cora ran the count full, he sliced a sinking line drive into center field that looked as if it were going to drop in for a hit, but B.J. Upton came gliding over to snag the shot before it could fall to the turf, catching not only the ball but everyone including Ellsbury, who was at second base already, off guard.

As Jacoby turned and hightailed it back to first Upton unloaded a cannon back to the infield and nipped Jacoby just before he got back to the back for a demoralizing inning-ending double play, and just like that one of the Sox best chances to get back in the game had gone up in flames.

Boston finally got two base runners on in the same inning when Kielty singled and tek walked with one out in the seventh, but Kazmir got Ellsbury (1-3) to whiff on a swing that only a lumberjack could love, then got Cora to tap into a force out to squelch the threat.

The last golden scoring chance Boston would get came when Joe Maddon finally removed Kazmir after the seventh and Dan Wheeler came in for the eighth. Wheeler walked Coco with one out, then saw him steal second easily as he struck out Pedroia looking for out #2.

The tying run was now in scoring position with money Mike Lowell at the plate and Ortiz on the on deck circle to pinch hit, and the crowd could sense something was about to happen here.

Unfortunately that something was Lowell staring at a filthy breaking pitch from Wheeler right down the middle of the plate for strike three, and with that Boston's last gasp chance at getting this game even went by the wayside.

Boston did get a measure of revenge for the Ellsbury gaffe after Delmon Young led off the 9th with a single off Mike Timlin, then got burned like Jacoby when he took off for third on a high deep drive to center by Brendan Harris.

Trouble was Coco made another one of his nightly spectacular catches, tracking the ball all the way back to the wall, timing his leap and hauling the ball in, then he fired it back to Cora who relayed to first to catch the napping Young for the "take that" double play.

But the feel good play would quickly be forgotten when the Sox, including pinch hitter papi, went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th, and the Sox and the Faithful realized they had just been punked by not only the Rays and Kazmir but by their own manager as well.

Tito, here's a bit of advice for ya: you want to beat a pitcher who treats you as his personal chew toy, don't start your second baseman in the spot reserved for your power hitting DH for starters, numb nuts.

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Series Preview: Tampa Bay @ Sox

Tampa Bay Devil Rays (60-83) @ Red Sox (87-57)
Fenway Park 3 game series

Probable Pitching Matchups
GM1 Mon 705 Kazmir (11-8, 3.79) vs. Schilling (8-6, 4.04)
GM2 Tue 705 Sonnanstine vs. Wakefield
GM3 Wed 705 Jackson vs. Lester

Season Series: Sox lead 9-3

Preview:
Let''s face facts: Boston has now played these guys enough in the past two months to be able to exchange Christmas cards with Rays players and their families, and we all know that anything less than a sweep of the cellar-dwellers is considered a failure.

So I'm not going to add anything else that we don't already know.

The Sox need to win all three games to keep the 5 1/2 game cushion over the New York A-Rods, who have the night off tonight before the start bludgeoning the Jays in Toronto tomorrow.

The only things you really need to know heading into this series is that Manny will probably miss this set so he can try to get back for the Stanks series this weekend, and it looks like Big Papi's balky knee will keep him out of at least tonight's game if not more.

That leaves Boston with a quizzical lineup for tonight's opener. Not only will Lugo leadoff as the DH, but Pedroia will bat third, Kielty will play right and Alex Cora, in the midst of a horrid 1-20 slump, will play short and bat ninth.

Combine that lineup with Sox killer Scott Kazmir and you got the recipe for what could be a tough game to win in the opener.

Let's hope Schill continues top progress from his midseason malady and can go six or seven strong innings, get enough offense to take a lead into the final frames, and then let the rested bullpen steer the game into the winners garage.

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Sox suffer frustrating, pain-filled loss to Rays

Tampa Bay 2, Sox 1
WP: Jackson (4-12)
LP: Matsuzaka (13-10)
SV: Reyes (19)
HRs: TB-Upton (18)

SUMMARY
Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched well enough to win but got no help from the offense, and Rays CF B.J. Upton decided the game with an assist to nab a runner at the plate and a two-run home run.

#1 STUNNER Upton 1-4, R, 2BI
The 23-year-old celebrated his birthday a day late as his two-way heroics single-handedly won the game for the Rays.

In the 5th he nailed a lumbering Big Papi trying to score from second on a single by Lowell, and in the 6th he smacked a 2-run shot of Matsuzaka for the winning margin in the game.

PAN's FAUN Cap'n Tek 0-5, 2K, 8LOB
I hate to pick on one guy because the offense as a whole was horrid, but the Captain was anything but clutch in this one.

Not only did he pull an o-fer , but he ended three straight innings with two men on base, including the final out of the game.

RECAP
For the third time this season the Rays defeated the Red Sox.

And the loser in all three contests? Daisuke Matsuzaka.

In what has become a familiar refrain when the Diceman pitcheth, Boston mustered little or no run support for the rookie and failed to come up with a timely hit despite numerous opportunities, and instead of a 3-game sweep the Sox limp into the Windy City on the fumes of this frustrating loss.

In Matsuzaka's 10 losses this season Boston has scored just 21 runs, and it doesn't take Steven Hawking to figure that averages to a smidge over 2 RPG.

In those 10 losses the Sox have been shutout twice, scored one run three times including tonight, and managed only two runs in two other contests.

A lesser, more anger-prone man might take the lack of support a personally, or wonder why the team wasn't scoring for him, but to his credit the humble Japanese hurler quietly states that if his offense is having trouble scoring it is his job to shut the other team out.

Which, like the last time he started at the Trop, he was doing for most of the game.

In fact Matsuzaka (6IP, 2H, 2ER, 4BB, 8K) was so dominant this evening that he only allowed four base runners (1 hit, 3 walks) through the first five innings.

Boston batters, meanwhile, were peppering the base paths all night, something that should be expected from the best team in the game facing a pitcher with a 3-12 record and an ERA over 5.00.

But has been the case so many times in this perplexing season, the Sox couldn't drive the big run home,and it's been this inability to put the early nail in the coffin of a lesser pitcher and team that has cost Boston too many would-be victories.

The Sox had base runners in every inning in this game, yet managed to score 1 measly run. They left 15 men stranded, including multiple runners in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th innings.

Their best chance at a big inning that could've driven improving young righty Edwin Jackson (6IP, 5H, 1ER, 5BB, 3K) out of the game came in the third, when the first three batters reached base but Boston could only muster one run from the gift-wrapped situation,

Dustin Pedroia led off the frame the hard way, taking a Jackson pitch off the elbow, a blow that would lead to Pedroia's departure from the game between innings. test results are negative, but don't be surprised if he gets a day or two off to rest the injury.

Kevin Youkilis followed that with a deep drive to right that bounced near the top of the padded outfield wall and landed him on second base and Pedroia on third,
and five pitches later David Ortiz was unintentionally intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs.

Time to lay waste to this guy, right?

Well if laying waste means a sac fly by Mike Lowell, who was hitting in Manny's spot as Ramirez had the night off, then yes, they certainly laid waste to Jackson.

After Lowell's team-leading 86th RBI made the score 1-0 Boston, it looked as if the Sox were headed to another easy win at the Trop.

Then Jackson got Drew to pop out and Varitek to ground out, and the promising inning dissipated in the blink of an eye.

And on and on it went.

In the 4th Eric Hinske drew a 1-out walk, made it all the way to third on a stolen base and an error, and was left stranded when Alex Cora, who replaced Pedroia, flied out to end the inning.

Adding injury to injury, Hinske also had to leave the game when he pulled a muscle on his trip 3/4 of the way around the bases.

In the 5th Boston would get another golden scoring chance when Papi (2-2, 3BB) smoked a 1-out drive to deep left, another shot that nearly went for a homer but just missed and wound up a double.

A few pitches later Lowell spanked a hard grounder up the middle and into center, and as Papi got the "go" sign from Demarlo Hale, B.J. Upton scooped the ball in his glove and came up firing, throwing a perfect strike to catcher Josh Paul to nail Papi at the plate and kill any momentum the Sox might have gained from the play.

Instead it was Tampa Bay that gained the assistance of Uncle Mo, and it would be the same man who provided the defensive highlight who would supply all the offense the rays needed on the night.

Dice-K quickly retired Carl Crawford on strikes to being the bottom of the 6th, then issued a free pass to ex-Sox and current Sox killer Carlos Pena. Two pitches later Upton drove a Matsuzaka offering the opposite way and into the seats in right for a game-changing 2-run homer, and suddenly the team that looked like it was poised for a sweep had some ground to make up, with time running out.

Except the final three frames would contain more of the same for Boston: get men on, fail to get them home.

In the 7th, with Jackson done and the shaky Rays pen on to hold the slim lead, Papi reached on a shift-busting single and Drew (2-4) on a sliced single to left, but Tek struck out swinging to end the threat.

After Mike Timlin worked into and out of a bases loaded situation of his own in the bottom of the 7th, Julio Lugo delivered a 2-out ground rule double to right against Gary Glover, but the much-maligned Glover got Cora to strike out swinging to squelch that chance.

And finally in the 9th Boston mounted one more rally when Ortiz walked and drew singled to put two on with two outs against Rays closer Al Reyes.

I think you know the rest.

So on a night when offenses ran amok--the Texas Rangers scored a league-record 30 runs against the Baltimore Orioles, and 10 teams, including the Stanks, scored at least 7 runs--the best team in baseball managed just a solo score against one of the wort teams, and pitchers, in the sport.

And that fact hurts the most.

NOTES:

-Trop trap: the last time Dice-K pitched down here he took a shutout into the 7th, only to see that lead and win disappear on a Dioner Navarro homer

-Are you K-idding? Not only have the Rays earned all three wins vs. the Sox this year off Dice-K, but they have not beaten any other pitcher in the game more than one time

-Bobby Kielty replaced Hinske, who reportedly suffered from a cramp in his calf, and went 1-2 with a single. he's now batting .300 (3-10) since being called up

-Boston held the Rays to 4 hits in all three games

-Papi continues to swing a hot stick; he's hit in six straight games (11-22), and in five of those contests he's had multiple hits. Meanwhile Youk (1-5) continues to slump, in the midst of a 5-41 (.122) funk over his last 10 games

QUOTES:

"It just hit me in the right spot. I really couldn't bend my arm much...I don't think I've ever been hit that hard before."--Pedroia on the nasty HBP that sounded like it hit his bat

"We just didn't score any runs. Those missed opportunities I'll take on my shoulders, because I left a lot of guys on base."--Tek, being the stand-up captain he always is and validating my goat selection of him

RECORD: 76-51
AL EAST: Up 5 on NYY
STREAK: L-1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Thu @ CHI 800EST

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Game Preview: Sox @ Rays GM3

Matsuzaka (13-9, 3.76) vs. Jackson (3-12, 5.69)
Tropicana Field 710

The last time Dice pitched at the Trop I had the misfortune of watching him lose a pitcher's duel with Scott Kazmir. Maybe the Sox will score him some runs tonight.

The Sox will try for the sweep tonight at the Trop, and they've got the right pitching matchup to do so.

Although Rookie of the Year candidate Daisuke Matsuzaka has lost his last two starts against Tampa Bay, the fact that he will be opposed by a 12-game loser has to give him a bit more confidence.

Not more confidence in his pitching, but more confidence in the ability of the Boston offense to score more than 4 runs for him, something they have failed to do in 5 of his last 9 starts.

Jackson has rebounded after a terrible start, allowing just 4 earned runs in his last 4 starts covering 28 innings (1.28ERA), including a 4-hit complete game shutout at Texas on August 11th.

But the juggernaut that is Boston vs. Tampa Bay should allow the Sox a way to solve Jackson's recent magic streak and hopefully put 8-9 runs on the board to get Dice-K a much-needed easy victory.

NOTES: As he announced yesterday, Tito will rest Manny Ramirez tonight, with Eric Hinske playing left and Mike Lowell jumping up to Manny's 4-spot...Rays manager Joe Maddon also announced that his star outfielder, Delmon Young, will sit this one out as well.

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Rays of hope: Sox hang on for tough win at the Trop

Sox 8 , Tampa Bay 6
WP: Lester (2-0)
LP: Sonnanstine (2-9)
SV: Papelbon (30)
HRs: TB-Iwamura (4), Pena (28)

SUMMARY
Boston jumped out to a sizable 7-2 lead after four innings but even though the randy Rays clawed back with four runs in three innings to make the game a lot closer than it should have been, starter Jon Lester still earned his second win of the season.

#1 STUNNER Big Papi 2-4, 2R, BI, BB, 3B
The big fella's 1st triple of the season and 12th of his career drove in the first run of the game, and for an encore he legged out a 60-ft single to ignite a five-run rally in the 4th.

PAN's FAUN Andy Sonnanstine 5IP, 8H, 7ER, 0BB, 5K
What a difference a week makes. Last Wednesday at Fenway the youngster dazzled the Sox hitters, taking a shutout into the 7th inning and earning his 2nd win of the season. Tonight? They beat him like he was a Devil Ray pitcher.

RECAP
It wan't easy.

And it sure wasn't pretty.

Did I mention it wasn't easy?

Either way Boston did what it set out to do tonight: defeat the Rays and get one step closer to a much-needed sweep of an inferior team to boost confidence before battling the Bummers in the Bronx one week from tonight.

Who cares that Boston pitchers only surrendered 4 hits for the second straight night and could have lost the game?

Who cares if the normally patient Boston batters worked just one walk off the usually obliging Rays staff?

And who cares if Jon Lester was more erratic than an episode of Entourage?

The only thing that matters when you play scrub teams is that you beat scrub teams, and although this one won't be going into any 'Best of 2007' DVDs, Boston will take the victory nonetheless.

The way the game started it looked like tonight might be a carbon copy of last night's 6-0 shellacking.

For the second night in a row Boston put up a pair of runs in the very first frame, but this time the offense was decidedly of the unconventional variety.

After Dustin Pedroia struck out to open the game, Kevin Youkilis drove a ball to deep left center field that would have been a sure-fire triple for a speedier man but instead wound up as a stand up double.

But whadda ya know, the next batter in the Boston lineup would have to show the slow-footed Youk how it's done.

David Ortiz stepped in the box after sitting out the game yesterday with 11 career triples under his belt, the last one coming Sept. 8th of last year at home against the Royals.

After running the count to 2-1, Papi fouled off three straight pitches before unloading on a Sonnanstine offering, muscling the ball the other way into the left center field gap between outfielders Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton and all the way to the wall.

By the time Youk had rumbled around to score the first run of the game, Papi was heading to third with his first three bagger of the season, and when the winded Ortiz got up to catch his breath you knew he was thinking "that's how you do it, slow poke."

Manny would add to Papi's shortness of breath when his medium-depth fly ball to center was just deep enough to bring the exhausted Ortiz home, and, thanks to Upton's terrible throw, without a slide, and just like yesterday Boston owned a demoralizing 2-0 lead after one.

Morale would quickly be boosted on the home bench when Upton, who celebrated his 23rd birthday today, drew a 1-out walk from Lester (5.1IP, 4H, 5ER, 4BB, 4K, 2HR) and then cruised home when ex-Sox Carlos Pena blasted the next pitch over the right field wall for a game-tying two-run blast.

It was Pena's 28th homer run, a career-high, and I don't think I need to point out to anyone that his total would lead the team by seven homers, and he was a member of the squad for 18 games last season.

Moving on, Boston would put some distance between them and the Rays on the scoreboard when it put up five runs on five hits in the fifth.

Papi was a key contributor to this rally, too, but this time it was an accidental nubber that never made it past the pitcher's mound for an infield single, and just like that the man had hit the longest and shortest hit a player could possible get in one game.

Sonnanstine went on to retire Manny swinging at strike three, but then the kid hit Mike Lowell (1-3, R) with a pitch and when J.D, Drew followed with a soft single to right, the bases were loaded and Boston was poised to break the game open.

Tek's lazy RBI single over the shortstops's glove didn't exactly blow the game open, but when Coco Crisp lined a double down the first base line to score two, and then Julio Lugo stroked a slow roller to left center that turned into a 2-RBI double, suddenly the Sox were up 7-2 and it looked like the D-Rays faithful had another reason to head home early.

Not so fast, fairweather.

Lester had settled down after Pena's bomb in the first, retiring 10 Rays in a row counting Aki Iwamura, who was picked off trying to steal second in the 3rd, and it looked like if he could just get through the 6th, Tito was ready to have his bullpen take over.

Except Lester got into trouble in the 5th when he gave up a one-out single to Jonny Gomes and then walked Josh Wilson, but when induced a fielder's choice and ran the count to 3-2 against Iwamura, Lester was just one pitch away from escaping the jam.

Then Aki sent the next pitch the other way, and as Manny ranged over to the fence to try and corral the drive, the ball landed in the first row of seats for a momentum-killing 3-run homer, and the easy victory just got a whole lot harder.

The teams would trade unearned runs in the 7th when Manny's hard shot to short was bobbled by Wilson to score Pedroia, who had doubled, from third, and the Rays got a gift when Pedroia fumbled a Carl Crawford bullet that plated Wilson, who was a victim of a HBP by Manny Delcarmen earlier in the inning.

With the score now 8-6 Tito relied on Hideki Okajima, who relieved Delcarmen in the 7th, and not Eric Gagme to get through the 8th, but after walking Pena and the getting the next two batters, Francona was forced to go with his horse for the 4-out save.

Papelbon fanned Gomes on four pitches to end the 8th, then breezed through a 1-2-3 9th to put this one in the can, and Jon Lester had earned his first victory since July 23rd while posting numbers only a Devil Ray could love.

Like I said it wasn't easy and it wasn't pretty, but the Sox have now won 6 of 9 and can build some serious momentum with a win tomorrow before heading off to Chitown for a four-game weekend set with the White Sox.

And with 13-9 Dice-K going up against 3-12 Edwin Jackson, a sweep is all but in the books.

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Game Preview: Sox @ Rays GM2

Lester (1-0, 5.14) vs. Sonnanstine (2-8, 6.15)
Tropicana Field 710

Now that the Wakefield hysteria has died down the Sox will try and win a game at Tampa Bay without the services of the Rays killer on the mound.

This time it will be up to young Jon Lester to keep the good times rollin and help Boston establish a little winning streak and hopefully gain some ground over the Stanks as they play the Angels at home, like they did last night.

The task won't be as easy tonight as throwing Wake on the mound and waiting for the easy "W"; last week struggling Rays rookie Andy Sonnanstine spun a gem at Fenway, taking a shutout into the 7th inning before tiring and leaving with 6 2/3 innings allowing 4 hits and 3 runs in a 6-5 Tampa Bay win.

The righty outpitched Daisuke Matsuzaka in that contest, so there's no reason to believe he can't hold his own against fellow rookie Lester.

Since his return from cancer treatments in late July, the 23-year-old lefty has been erratic at best, but did settle down to pitch 7 innings of 2-hit, 1-run ball in a 2-1 win against these Rays last week.

All we need is for Lester to duplicate that performance and then have Sonnanstine revert back to his 1-8, 6.35 ERA self like he was before that come-from-nowhere performance against Boston.

And if things don't work out like that we'll have to see what Tito can do about getting Wake to pitch again in the series finale tomorrow.

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Bayside Bitches: Wake defeats Rays--again

Sox 6, Tampa Bay 0
WP: Wakefield (15-10)
LP: Kazmir (9-8)
HRs: BOS-Lowell (17)

SUMMARY
Once again the knuckleball of Tim Wakefield bedazzled, befuddled and bewildered Tampa Bay as the veteran used the strength of 3 RBIs from Mike Lowell and a pair of ribbies from Manny to earn his 19th career victory against the Rays.

#1 STUNNER Wake 7IP, 4H, 1BB, 5K
His numbers against the Rays are starting to resemble a fantasy geek's wet dream: 19-2, 2.74 ERA, 9-0 at the Trop. When you talk about one player owning one team, this record has got to be right near the top of the list.

PAN's FAUN Scott Kazmir 5.2IP, 7H, 6ER, 4BB, 8K
Normally Kaz is nearly as tough on the Sox as Wake is on his team, but not tonight. Boston hit the young lefty early & often, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after two and spoiling any rhythm the kid had hoped to get to offset Wakefield's dominance.

RECAP
What do you know, I was wrong again.

For some reason I had a sneaking suspicion that the twin Wakefield streaks were going to end tonight here in the Bay area, what with so much attention having been paid over the last week to both his unblemished record at the Trop and him recording a decision in every start this season.

But this is Tampa Bay, USA, where dreams come to life, snow birds come to vacation, and one old knuckleball pitcher comes to kick the local ballclub around like a Mike Vick chew toy.

Wakefield, the 42-year-old wunderkind, not only ran his record to 19-2 against the Rays but with his 15th victory of the season he tied teammate Josh Beckett and the Angels' John Lackey for the major league lead in wins.

I know it's a cliche, but this guy truly is the Energizer Bunnny. With that 60 mph floater and just enough of a fastball to keep hitters guessing, the senior Sox might outlast Buchholz, Lester, Delcarmen and all the other young studs currently in the Sox system.

Another reason I suspected the task might be tougher for Tim and the Sox tonight was the fact that they were facing a mini-assassin as well, Scott Kazmir.

Sure his 5-3 record vs. Boston doesn't sound so impressive, but when you figure in a 2.37 ERA along with 91 strikeouts in 83 innings of work, there's no denying the fact that the youngster enjoys going up against the best in the East.

And for the last month Kaz has been pretty happy to go up against anybody. He's been the hottest pitcher since the break, posting a 4-0 mark and surrendering just 5 earned runs in 44.2 innings for a phenomenal 1.02 earned run average covering seven starts.

Oh and he also struck out 53 batters and walked just 15 during that time.

But tonight the Boston batters had his number, whether it was the joy of playing a team other than the pesky Angels or just being in the cozy confines of Red Sox Nation South, and they quickly went to work on Wakefield's next win.

Dustin Pedroia started the festivities off with a single to left center on the first pitch of the game. Five pitches later Youk worked his obligatory walk, and with Papi getting the night off it was up to new Sox hero Bobby Kielty to get on for Manny.

Kielty reached base, but only by forcing Youk at second, and after Kazmir fanned Ramirez looking at three straight pitches it looked as if the young lefty was going to escape the inning unscathed.

Then Mike Lowell, Professional Hitter, stepped to the plate, and much like he has all season long, delivered just the right hit at just the right time.

Lowell sliced a wicked shot down the third base line that eluded the sprite Akinori Iwamura at the bag and scooted into the corner for a 2-run double, and with Wake owning the Rays you almost got the feeling the game could have ended there and saved everyone the trouble of sitting through 8 more innings.

Wakefield escaped a mini-jam in the bottom of the frame when Iwamura singled and stole second, then went to third when Carl Crawford whiffed but had to be thrown out as new knuckleball catcher Kevin Cash had not yet adapted to the nuances of the flutterball.

As it turned out tricky bounces would not pose much of a problem on the night when Boston tacked on three more runs in the second inning, effectively ending the game and allowing the sparse crowd in attendance to go home and tuck the kiddies into bed before the first day of school.

Coco ignited this rally with an odd ground rule double that looked as if it was a foul ball but glanced off right fielder Delmon Young's glove in fair territory and hopped into the stands.

A groundout by Lugo got Crisp to third, and after Cash watched a couple of nice pitches by Kazmir just miss the mark to earn a free pass, Pedroia (2-4, 2R, BI) slapped his second single to left to score Coco and run the score to 3-0 Sox.

Youk followed with a single to load the bases, and after Kielty struck out, Manny swatted the first pitch from Kazmir to deep center to score Cash and Pedroia to make it 5-0, and even though they couldn't capitalize when Manny made it to second and Lowell was intentionally walked to re-load the bases, the damage was done and this one was all but over..

That's because Wake's knuckler was dancing like Ian Ziering, floating and prancing like a proud ballerina and confounding the Rays, who did manage to get a runner on base in five of the first six innings but could do nothing with them.

By the time Lowell (2-2, R, 3RBI) slammed a solo shot to left with one out in the fifth to make the score 6-0, you could hear the drunk Sox fans cheering on their beloved team as the Tampa Bay fans rushed for the 275 on ramps.

Things were going so good that Manny Delcarmen exorcised the demons of his last appearance here (of which my son & I were unwitting witnesses) by tossing a 1-2-3 8th on 13 pitches, and with Papelbon & Gagne watching side by side from the pen, Mike Timlin set the Rays down in order in the 9th to close out another Wakefield milestone victory.

Once again the magic man of the major leagues continued two impressive streaks and tied for the league lead in wins at the same time.

If he keeps pitching against Tampa Bay he might even get some Cy Yong consideration.

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