The Latest Round Goes To The Rays...Tampa Bay 5 Boston 4

Justin Masterson's first pitch of the game was slammed over the fence by B.J. Upton, and that set the tone of the Tampa Bay Rays' Monday night victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox. Their lead in the division bulged to 1 1/2 games, with two more tilts coming up in this series. Masterson had trouble finding the strike zone, BIG TROUBLE. 57 of his 105 pitches (in only six innings) were strikes, and he threw only 13 out of 28 first pitch strikes. It was not the kind of outing the Sox, losers of three straight, wanted to see. Chris Smith took over in the seventh and also could not throw strikes. He recorded an out while walking the bases full, which led to the decisive run scoring in that inning. Is Tampa Bay for real? Last night they became the fastest team to record 50 wins of all those who finished the season before with the worst record. Mike Lowell expounds on their chances...

"They're not doing this with smoke and mirrors," said Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell, who went 3-for-4. "They're a talented group. I think a lot of times when you have a lot of young guys, you don't know how to measure up because there's no track record. I think the talent is there and you've got to respect that.

Peter here, and Mikey is right...the core group of Rays players are talented indeed. I wouldn't be surprised if they stay at or near the top of the AL East right through September. And speaking of September, that's when the Sox will next see the Rays, with six games divided evenly between home turfs. Wow! Maybe they'll win the Wild Card. Maybe the Red Sox will. That's why there is a second half of the season! But right now, with bullpen woes and uneven hitting, Boston has lost three in a row, two to Houston and one last night. It's time to turn the page and start a winning steak. Tim Wakefield will take the mound, and he's been great in his last few starts. He will be opposed by the Rays' Matt Garza, who can be tough at times. But the Sox are ready to score some runs tonight, six or seven of them. And that should be enough. Jon Lester will wrap up the Florida series (for now) Wednesday, and then it's on to a quartet of games in the Stadium that Ruth built. But as I say (probably too often), one game at a time, one page at a time. Monday night's page has NOW been turned and there was no violence or umpire warnings last night. The only thing wrong with the game was that Tampa Bay won the thing!

Click on the title of this post for more on last night's game, Manny's brief altercation with the 66 (!!) year old Sox travel secretary and anything else that you'd need to know. GO SOX, and as always, BE WELL. Any comments? I'd love it.