Punchless Red Sox Beaten Again...Tampa Bay Rays 3 Boston Red Sox 1

For the seventh straight start, Timmy Wakefield pitched at least seven innings and allowed fewer than three earned runs. Yet the Boston Red Sox were again without the timely hits and lost to the first place Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 3-1. His ERA over that span is a nifty 1.98, but because of a lack of run support, his record is 2-3. Unfathomable. Two wild pitches were a part of his undoing, as well as a walk and an Alex Cora error. But when a team scores only one run on six hits, which was the same number of hits the Rays banged out, there is NO room for error. Here's what Tim had to say after absorbing his sixth loss...

“I’m just in a really bad spot, I guess,” Wakefield said. “My job is to go out there and give us quality starts and innings and keep us in the game as long as possible, and I’ve been fortunate enough to do that. . . . We put runs on the board in Houston. It’s just a matter of firing on all cylinders right now. These guys (the Rays) aren’t like they used to be,” Wakefield said. “They’re pretty good over there. I think Garza might be the best pitcher on that staff and he proved it again tonight.”

Peter here, and Tim is right...the Rays have good defense and hitting and a great rotation. I'm still not convinced about their bullpen, but on Tuesday night, it was more than up to snuff. On the bright side, a very dim bright side, Jacoby Ellsbury emerged from his batting funk with two hits and a stolen base, his 35th. If only his teammates would catch that same hitting fever. Jason Varitek, who is in a supersonic slump, didn't start because Wakes throws to Kevin Cash, but he was called on to pinch hit in the eighth inning. He also came to the plate in the ninth. He saw six pitches. Two were called strikes and four were swinging ones. He said this...

"I'll eventually figure it out," said Varitek, hitless in his past 13 at-bats. "I can help this team in a lot of other ways than just offensively. I've just absolutely stunk. There's no two ways about it."

Peter here, and Jason, we KNOW you'll figure it out. Yet you're not alone...the entire starting nine, plus a few, are struggling at the plate. It's NOT horrible pitching in most cases, and that bodes well for the future. But the future is NOW, with one more game against the Rays (Matsuzaka v. Kazmir) and then a jet trip to the Big Apple to play the Yankees four times in a premature battle for the Wild Card. That pinstriped team from New York is struggling just like the Sox are, but the number one priority right now for all the members of Red Sox Nation and Red Sox International, and, of course, the team itself is to win this getaway game in Florida. Kazmir is tough--we all know that. But leave it to Daisuke to come up with something. The most important thing to remember is this...we need to SCORE SOME RUNS!!!!!!!

Thanks for popping in once again. You really know how to give me a smile. For more on last night's winnable but losing Sox effort, just click on the title of this post. You know your comments are always welcomed. And as always, I wish you this...BE WELL. I will leave you with the full schedule of upcoming Sox/Rays games, including today...

Wed 7/2 @TB 7:10 pm
Mon 9/8 @BO 7:05 pm
Tue 9/9 @BO 7:05 pm
Wed 9/10 @BO 7:05 pm
Mon 9/15 @TB 7:10 pm
Tue 9/16 @TB 7:10 pm
Wed 9/17 @TB 7:10 pm