Dawg Days of Summer

Here we go again the Rays demolished the Sox hopes of getting the W last night in a "Big" game. Granted it was still early August, but last nights game had a playoff aura about it. Imagine saying that 4-5 years ago about a Sox/Rays game. In all honesty I think it was the most stressful game I've watched all season.

Bard finally showed he was hittable and Longoria established why he shouldn't be pitched two not once, but twice to win the Rays a game they had no business taking. Lester pitched a stunning game as did Garza who is a Sox killer if you recall from last fall's ALCS. Pedroia and Youk continued to carry this team offensively as they have over the past month and Victor Martinez, don't get me started, was another spark plug in the lineup. Got to love the Sox getting another hybrid player like Martinez who can give you better than average defense at two positions and still add a dangerous switch hitting bat to your lineup. Opposing managers are going to be driven nuts with all the options Tito can throw at them. It wasn't enough last night though and leaving men on base happened all too often. In the end the Rays had enough to take a burner and I couldn't make it past the 13th. Hopefully the Sox can take the next game and this isn't the type of lose that puts them on a skid. Something tells me this team is still forming their playoff identity and figuring out where the new guys fit and who is going to be ready when they get put into big spots in the playoffs. What this game showed is the Sox just have not figured out how to beat this Rays squad, maybe they still have the confidence from last October, but the Sox better figure it out quick before they become the third seed in the East.

P.S. Can we keep Josh Reddick up and send down Drew???