A Turn The Page Afternoon. Lester & Lugo Struggle In Red Sox Loss...Rays 14 Boston 5

A warm and somewhat humid Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park proved to be a very forgettable one for the Fenway Faithful as the home team lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by a lopsided score of 14-5. Evan Longoria was again the hot hitter for Tampa Bay with 5 RBIs. Jon Lester was only able to work into the fifth inning, giving up 8 runs on 10 hits while walking one and striking out six. What promised to be a super season for the lefty, much like 2008, has been slow in coming. Jon said this after the whupping...

"You look at our starting rotation coming out of spring training, and we thought we'd be pretty good," Lester said. "Not to say we aren't, but right now we're struggling. For some reason, from top to bottom, with the exception of Tim Wakefield, he seems to be throwing the ball really well every time. I don't know what to tell you. I don't know the answer to that question, why we're struggling, what we're doing wrong. Early in the year, we were leaving some balls up out over the plate, getting beat with them. But now it seems like guys are throwing the ball better and just aren't getting the results. With that being said, it's a long year. Hopefully, it will turn around. With this staff, it should turn around."

I hope you're right Jon, but the starting rotation has a staff ERA of 5.85. Except for Tim Wakefield, who boasts an ERA of 2.93, every other starter, including Justin Masterson, subbing for Daisuke Matsuzaka, has an ERA over 5.00. They are last in the league in that category. Before the 2009 season started, the pitching was supposed to outshine the hitting. Hey, don't look now but it's been exactly the opposite. On the brighter side, Boston has a winning record and is still in a virtual tie for first place in the AL East, so everything ain't all THAT bad. The Rays iced this game and put it out of Red Sox reach with 6 runs in the fifth and 5 runs in the sixth. There it was...game over. The bullpen, except for Manny Delcarmen, was generous, and that further spelled doom for Boston. Julio Lugo was booed loudly for his seeming inability to get to ground balls hit to his right or left. He clearly doesn't have his legs under him...not yet. JED, COME BACK SOON.

So it was a "turn the page" day for that club from Boston. Tonight on ESPN and ESPN HD, it will be a marquee matchup with Matt Garza ready to face Josh "Baseball" Beckett. Let's hope Josh can give that starting rotation a much needed boost. The pregame starts at 8pm EDT and the first pitch will be thrown shortly after that. May the force be with them. The weather will be cooly perfect at Fenway with no chance of raindrops.

Thanks for stopping by on this beautiful early Sunday morning. You can click on this post's title for more Sox news, including the latest about Kevin Youkilis, who will return to the lineup Tuesday night on the left coast.

As always, BE WELL. Your comments are welcome and answered every time. See ya...soon. GO SOX. Tonight and forever.