Boston Red Sox (50-35) @ Tampa Bay Rays (50-32) GAME NOTES: Enough. Falling 2.5 back of first would hurt. I know it's early July, but Wake needs to continue his dominance in the Trop and halt this three game losing streak. Manny hits a big homer tonight.
Prev. Gm:
Tim Wakefield (5-5, 3.88) @ Matt Garza (6-4, 3.76)
7:05 PM EDT | Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, FL)
TV: NESN RADIO: WRKO 680, SBN 1150
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Tonight’s lineups, since no one else has posted them yet:
Red Sox:
Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Drew, RF
Ramirez, DH
Lowell, 3B
Youkilis, 1B
Moss, LF
Cora, SS
Cash, C
Wakefield, P
Rays:
Iwamura, 2B
Crawford, LF
Upton, CF
Pena, 1B
Longoria, 3B
Floyd, DH
Navarro, C
Hinske, RF
Bartlett, SS
Garza, P
GO SOX!
BTW, Happy Canada Day, eh!
Crap. E-6 followed by a WP. There’s no need to spot the rays a run, guys.
I love it when the other team scores a run without a hit. Way to bring your A game guys.
This is looking like a classic Red Sox crap the bed game.
Yeah – can’t wait to see how they strand Ellsbury at third…
Thanks, JD!
Another WP, another run. Wakefield….
Did anyone else twitch when they saw the 7-8-9 in our lineup today? I’m not saying the usual starters are that much better…actually, I am. But Cora, Moss, Cash? Why does Tito always put the B team out when Wake pitches?
Manny is clearly not right, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him swing and miss at so many 93 mph fastballs, he usually crushes those pitches. If he’s not injured then he’s probably in one of his funks that happen every so often. I guess that the upside to that is when he comes out of it he’ll be a monster again, but with Papi out we need him. This offense is terrible right now, if Ortix was hitting in the 3 spot they would have score at least 1 run there.
Honestly there is always one player in some sort of funk this year. If it’s not Ellsbury then it’s Manny. If it’s not Drew it’s Tek. If it’s not Timlin it’s Okajima. If it’s not Dice-K it’s Beckett of all people. Something is clearly wrong here or the Rays have just become something else. I’m aiming towards both.
Tim is still doing a decent job trying to hold the line. It’s the offense that really needs to cut the LOB bullshit.
Manny looks to me like he’s just phoning it in.
I wouldn’t say he’s phoning it in, his mechanics are off. That said, are the Rays the best team ever at positioning their fielders? Either that or the Red Sox are trying to set some record for balls hit hard right at fielders.
WTF? Varitek in for Casey in for Cash?
And Tek strikes out on three pitches. Brilliant.
Jacoby seems to be coming out of his slump?
Ellsbury is on the very short list of things going right tonight.
Ugh…that was just plain pathetic. Hate to be that guy but after watching that we deserve to lose. Friggin’ LOBs are our worst enemy.
Here’s hoping the 9th inning can produce some heroics.
LOB bullshit indeed
At least we finally got some guys on base. Remember when this team used to score runs? That was fun.
Once again, it’s the no-run-support-for-Wake story.
Wow! More two out wonders from our bullpen!
Yeeesh…wow I hate being so pessimistic with the Sox, but God damn.
The Trop just seems to sap all of our mojo. And those fucking cowbells…
Oh, goody. One more runner to strand.
Tek. 6 pitches = 2 Ks. Good Lord, that’s awful.
We could have used Sean Casey in the 9th….
Great, now we get the privilege of getting swept. Nesn caught a Sox fan giving exact opinion of the Rays (they caught him giving the finger in the 9th). The next time Dioner Navarro pumps his fist or yells something a Red Sox player should pull a Delmon Young and just throw a bat at him or something. The inability for the Red Sox to get score with two outs is just maddening. It doesn’t matter how many runners are on, you just know that as soon as there are 2 down there are no runs coming. Without Papi this offense is pathetic.
Bob,
The fist pumping is indeed a bit immature at the MLB level and I hope we take it to them tomorrow night. However, these Rays have been shat on the past decade. Beating up on teams like us is what drives them. I could do with a bit less fanfare from the players but I can’t say I don’t like seeing them challenging us for the division title.
How long can this go on? Answer: a long time until we figure out that we really, really, really need a couple of simple changes before we dig that hole too deep. Call it mid-season calibration. We need:
Lowrie batting 9th and playing SS with a .290 – 300BA, 10 – 15HR and 830 – 850OPS, a good glove and arm, and an infectious winning attitude. He will cost us no $$ and no prospects, and win games.
Street/Fuentes/Marte in the 8th inning. One of them will cost us 2 – 3 blocked prospects (not Buck, Masterson, Bowden . . . not needed), and prevent 8th inning runs, and backup Paps when he has the flu. Send Hansen back to Pawtucket with Masterson, Timlin, Bartolo and Smith for a month or so. Let him regroup. We will need them all soon. He is sooo close to being what he will become, but he needs a break.
Why, Theo, is this so difficult? You want to win or not?
Wait … Sean O? Since when did you start going by Gerry? lol … no I hear ya man … a few days ago I was of the opinion that we should take our time … considering … we had lots of it … but something does indeed need to happen NOW … I’m not too worried about us falling too far behind … I am worried that we will just fade and never challenge if we let things continue like this without showing any urgency from above … this team needs something to change the attitude of seeming apathy that they have taken on … its time to start caring … its time to start pushing … its gonna be a long haul this season with the Rays … we can do it … it’s time to get started … if making a couple moves is what it takes I’m all for it
Yes. After all the injuries, fatigue, malaise, it’s attitude. It’s grinding it out as survivors. I don’t feel the soul or heart or heat from last year. It’s same old same old. The Rays are the Miracle Mets, what are the Sox? The Rays and Astros are not better teams. How can they sit on our hitters and hit our pitchers and make just enough luck to win, while we accept bad luck? Just plain wrong.
Bring in Fuentes or Marte and watch the testosterone fly on the mound.
Bring up Lowrie, and watch the IF respond to bright young talent helping to win games.
Wake up this talented team and watch them compete to win at bats, win innings, win games and win series and Repeat. Realizing that Repeat is NOT going to be automatic should be a stimulus, not a depressant.
I can’t help but say that I’m glad I missed this game. Got a last-minute ticket to the Cubs/Giants game, and though I wasn’t exactly in a good mood after seeing inning after inning tick away on the out-of-town scoreboard with the Sox trailing 2-1 and then 3-1, that changed quite possibly the best-pitched game I’ve ever seen live.
Matt Cain vs. Cubs: 8IP, 2H, 0R, 3BB, 10K. It was awesome.
Now, get out there tomorrow and match that, Dice-K. We’re going to need it against Kazmir.
DO NOT GET SWEPT. I REPEAT, DO NOT GET SWEPT. A 3.5 game deficit would almost ensure that we’ll go into the ASB in second place (hopefully not third, because that would entail a complete collapse). Let’s not go there.