Will The REAL Josh Beckett Please Stand Up...And Pitch?? Tampa Bay 8 Boston 5

Josh Beckett is not right...pure and simple. Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, home of the Rays, he surrendered 5 (!) runs in the first 3 innings as Tampa Bay raced to a 5-1 lead. He settled down after that and posted goose eggs in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings and the Red Sox were able to tie it with 2 runs in the 4th and single runs in the 7th and 8th. But Tampa Bay scored 3 big ones in the bottom of the 8th to seal the deal. Those runs were charged to Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen. Saito finished the game but it was too much too early (allowed by Beckett) and too little too late for the Sox. It was a contest Boston did not want to lose because Texas won yet another game, as did the Yankees. The Sox lost ground to both. The wild card lead over the Rangers is now only 2 1/2 games. The Yankees are out of reach, at least for 2009. Ouch! Jason Bay had these words after the game's end...

“They play us tough and I think, selfishly, we knew that Tuesday night’s win was kind of a safety net,” Bay said. “We knew the worst we could do is leave here giving up one game in the standings. Everyone can say what they want, but that’s a good team and they always play us tough. This is a little reminder that it ain’t over yet, but we still like the spot we’re in.”

Why do the Sox like the spot they're in? They are entering an easy part of their schedule and feel that they're playing well. Josh Beckett did settle down for his final three innings and Lester and Buchholz have, for the most part, pitched well, especially Mr. Lester. None of us know about Paul Byrd, but for now, he's in the Boston rotation. So the wild card is in their hands and they think they can do it. So do I, by the way.

Tonight in the series finale, it'll be Buchholz versus Price. A win is a must...I can't put it any other way. The first pitch will be at the Tampa-usual 7:08pm EDT. Enjoy. I like the way Clay has been pitching in his recent starts.

You can click on this post's title for more on Josh and the Sox and as always, BE WELL. I'd love to read and respond to any and all of your comments. See you...soon. Have a terrific Thursday.