Lester Reels in the Flat Fish

It seems like such a long time ago… was it this year or last year that the Rays took the Sox out to the woodshed? Those 4 games that Tampa Bay outscored the Red Sox by 15 runs, 24-9 to be exact, was indeed this year. What a difference a month makes, as the Red Sox are putting together a nice run since then. At the close of business on April 19, the Sox had put together a disappointing start to the 2010 campaign and had a 4-9 won-loss record. The Rays stood at 10-3 on that same date. Since then? The Rays have shown that they’re for real as their 22-11 record indicates. The Sox have gone 22-12 in that same time span.

Our Sox are rising to the challenge of climbing out of the seemingly endless abyss that clubhouse turmoil can push a team into. The Rays were looking bulletproof up until 2 days ago. They rushed out of this season’s gate to a 32-12 record for a .727 percentage. At that rate, they were on their way to winning 118 games. That is, until they ran into the rejuvenated Red Sox.

James Shields threw a pretty good game tonight going 8 innings and allowing only 4 Red Sox hits all night. Not much in the way of offense tonight, Papi went 1/3 spanking a 2 run double as that was all that was needed. Wheelin’, dealin’, and now reelin’ Jon Lester and the bullpen crew of Delcarmen, Bard and Papelbon landed the Rays for the 2nd game in a row with solid pitching, allowing them only 1 hit all night, while collecting 12 strike outs, 9 of them from Lester.

The Red Sox have won this series, outscoring them 8-1 in the first two games. Let’s hope that Lackey bounces back from his last lackluster start and shows us why Henry & Co. dropped 11-teen bazillion dollars on him.