One Is The Loneliest Number...

...for the first place Tampa Bay Rays, that is. The Boston Red Sox tamed them yet again and pulled out a 2-0 victory down in the Sunshine State. Jon Lester led the way with 6 innings of one hit ball, whiffing 9 (!). His control was a little off, though. He walked 5 Raymen but not one crossed the plate. Delcarmen, Bard and Papelbon finished the last three innings perfectly, perserving Boston's second straight win over Tampa Bay. Here's Jon himself after the game...

“We’re just playing better baseball,’’ Lester said. “That’s what we kept saying from the beginning. We weren’t playing good baseball. We were not playing smart baseball. Our starters weren’t going deep into the game. Now we’re getting on a little bit of a roll. Like we kept saying, we get on a roll, we start playing better baseball."

The surging Big Papi David Ortiz drove in the only 2 runs of the game with a third inning double and the pitching staff did the rest. The Sox are now just 6 1/2 games in back of Tampa Bay in the AL East. They're playing good baseball, too. We'll see Josh Beckett's return on June 3rd or so. He threw off the mound yesterday and will do so again on Friday. Victor Martinez' toe is feeling better and we'll see him back in the lineup in a few days, too. Jacoby Ellsbury was a late scratch because of soreness centering on his side. Sox manager Terry Francona said the injury is NOT related to his 4 fractured ribs. Let's hope he gets back soon. He's a game changer.

Boston has one more to play with the Rays and they'll send John Lackey to the hill. He'll face Garza, who's tough on the Sox. We need Lackey sharper than he's been in a BIG way. Giving up 5 runs per game is not a recipe for success. Disaster maybe but not a bunch of victories.

Thanks for stopping in once again and don't forget to click on this post's title to be linked to somewhere. I haven't picked that "somewhere" yet but I will. Click away. As always, BE WELL. Have a great Monday.