4 Rays, 0 Sox

Not a hell of a lot you can do or analyze about this one. The Rays had David Price, the Sox did not. Price totally shut down the Sox offense going 8 innings and letting up 3 hits. Kyle Farnsworth had a perfect 9th and that's all she wrote.



The 3 hits by the Red Sox offense were, an Ellsbury triple, and a 2 singles from Pedroia and Youkilis. We may have been able to get a run if Ellsbury didn't try to score on a A Gon swinging bunt, but in the long run, it didn't matter much.



John Lackey was handed his first loss in seven starts as he gave up 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 3 walks, and struck out 7, over 6 2/3.



At least the Royals are up next.

Rays @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox are looking to avoid losing their 4 time in 5 games. Boston leads the majors with 649 runs, but has scored only 12 in its last four games. The good news is Lackey is on the mound, and when Lackey is on the mound the Red Sox score runs (average of 9.97 runs in his last 7 starts).



Going against Lackey is David Price. Price is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three starts versus the Red Sox this season, and is coming off a strong start in which he let up 1 run in 8 innings against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.



Lackey has also been pitching well going 6-0 with a 3.92 ERA in his last seven starts, but opponents are still hitting .325 off him since the All-Star break. I wish I could say I am a Lackey believer, but I am still not.



I think the Red Sox lose today. Lackey blows, and it's just a matter of time before he gets lit up. Plus the Sox are going to be playing without Ortiz who is out indefinitely because of bursitis in his right heel.



Rays win 8-4

Player of the Game: Longoria

Game starts at 1:35pm

3 Sox, 1 Rays (game 1), 6 Rays, 2 Sox

During the day game Jon Lester finally pitched like the player he can be. He went 7 innings, let up 1 run on 3 hits and struck out 8. Lester ran into some trouble early when a leadoff double to Desmond Jennings, who then stole third and scored on a groundout by Evan Longoria. Ben Zobrist followed that up with a double. However, Lester was untouchable after that when he retired 12 in a row.



The only offense for the Sox came in the 3rd when Jacoby Ellsbury hit a 3 run jack. Right now he has 21 (22 by the end of the night) home runs and 78 RBIs, pretty damn good if you ask me.



After that James Shields shut down the Sox offense, he only let up those hits in the 3rd and then nothing after that. Luckily the Sox only needed those 3 runs.



Bard and Pap took care of the 8 and 9, end of game.



GAME TWO

6 Rays, 2 Sox



No matter where Erik Bedard goes, the team fails to produce runs. Bedard gave up 1 earned run (3 total runs), in 6 innings and also struck out 6. I'll take that from my 3rd starter any day.



Jeff Neimann had the Sox number last night as he went the distance, giving up three hits and striking out ten. The only 2 runs were solo shots from Jason Varitek and Jacoby Ellsbury to keep the Sox around.



Matt Albers came in and quickly ruined any chance to come back as he was tagged for 3 earned runs.



Oh well, can't win them all.

Rays @ Red Sox Preview (Game 2)

In the 2nd game today the Red Sox have Bedard going against Jeff Niemann. Niemann has been red hot of late going 6-0 with a 2.17 ERA over his last nine outings. Not a lot of people talk about Niemann, but he is turning into a damn good pitcher, maybe the most underrated in the AL East.



Bedard has had a great career against the Rays going 11-4 with a 3.41 ERA, but is 0-1 with an 8.64 ERA against them this year. Bedard has been solid since joining the Sox, but we have yet to see him go more then 5 innings. It would be very helpful to the Red Sox overworked bullpen if he could do so.



Although Niemann has been very good lately I feel the Red Sox offense is just too much better then the Rays for me to pick against the Red Sox. On the season the Rays are only hitting .244 as a team while the Red Sox are hitting .281. It will be close, but I see the Red Sox winning game 2.



Red Sox win 5-4

Player of the Game: Gonzalez

Game starts at 7:10pm

Rays @ Red Sox Preview (Game 1)

The Red Sox have a doubleheader today. The first game has Jon Lester going against James Shields. Shields has had a hell of a year (11-9 2.80 ERA), but has struggled throughout his career at Fenway (1-7 with a 7.71 ERA in eight starts).



Lester is having a good year, but not a great year. One thing he has done is pitch well during the day going 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in six day starts. Lester has lost his last two starts, and the Rays have been hot of late winning 7 of their last 10 games.



One thing all Boston fans would like to see is Adrian Gonzalez get his power swing back. He has still been hitting for average, but hasn't had the power stroke (no HRs in August).



Red Sox win 5-3

Player of the Game: Gonzalez

Game starts at 1:05pm

1 Sox, 0 Rays

Thank God for Dustin Pedroia because I did not want to stay up any longer to be honest. It was 16 innings, 5 hours long and once Papelbon closed the door in the 16th, I could finally go to sleep.

This game shouldn't have gone this long to begin with, 1st the Tampa Bay relievers walked 10 batters, and in the 9th A Gon popped out in a clutch situation and in 10th he grounded out to the shift.

Josh Reddick made a stellar catch in the 10th robbing Justin Ruggiano that certainly would have been an extra base hit.

Josh Beckett and Jeff Niemann both looked great, giving up a combined 3 hits over 8 innings apiece. It's good to see Beckett is over that devastating "knee injury".

Red Sox @ Rays Preview

Thank God that All-Star break is over. I really couldn't care less about the HR Derby, who did and didn't show, or the All-Star game itself, so I am ready for the 2nd half to get going. Tonight be get Andrew Miller against David Price.

Tampa Bay has taken three of the first five games with Boston, one of them coming when David Price won 3-2 at Fenway after allowing two runs in 7 2/3 innings. Price is one of the best left handers in baseball, but is having a little bit of a down year by his standards. He is only 8-7 on the year and has an ERA of 3.70. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I guess we are just spoiled of what he can do.

Miller hasn't lost as a member of the Red Sox. He is 3-0 with a 3.57 ERA, and has been a very nice surprise especially with all the injuries the Sox have had to deal with. The one thing I would like to see from Miller is him getting deeper into games. So far this season he has yet to make it past the 6 innings marker. That can come in time though.

Boston has won six of the last nine meetings in Tampa. Even though they are going against an ace tonight I think Boston will win, as they seem to play up when the chips are stacked against them.

Red Sox win 5-4
Player of the Game: Pedroia
Game starts at 7:10pm

4 Sox, 2 Rays

The good news is that Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Darnell McDonald all knocked in runs and the Red Sox won again. The bad news is that Clay Buchholz left the game in the 5th after giving up 2 hits, 1 run and only threw 81 pitches. Daniel Bard retired all four batters he faced and closer Jonathan Papelbon worked through a ninth-inning jam to earn his 13th save in 14 opportunities.

The Sox got to David Price early as they seemed to have men on bases the 1st couple innings, but he was able to straighten out and only let up 3 earned runs.

I don't know the extent of Buchholz injury but lets hope he's ok, because the Sox can't afford another starter to go on the DL.

Red Sox @ Rays Preview

Lost in all the awesomeness of the Bruins last night was Beckett's almost perfect game. Boston's offense didn't really hit their stride once again last night, and it could be even thougher tonight as Buchholz goes again David Price.

Price is 3-1 with a 2.54 ERA in four starts versus Boston. He is one of the toughest lefties in the majors, and the Sox could have trouble with him tonight. Buchholz has had a hell of a career against the Rays going 3-2 with a 1.81 ERA, and has allowed three earned runs over 25 1/3 innings in his last four starts against the Rays.

Boston seems to play better when they are going against the best pitchers in the MLB. I think that continues tonight, and Sox get it down.

Red Sox win 6-3
Player of the Game: Pedroia
Game starts at 7:10pm