Boston wasted a gem from Jon Lester last night, but this was a hard fought loss and these types of games happen. Lester left the game with the lead after going 6 innings letting up only 1 run on 3 hits with 10 Ks. The problem was that Garza was just as good letting up 2 runs over his 7 innings, as Boston's offense just not seem to have an answer for him.
The Rays were able to tie it at 2-2 in the 8th when Red Sox killer Evan Longoria hit a bomb off Bard, who had his first tough outing in a long time. The Rays and Red Sox bullpen were able to shut down each other until the 13th inning when once again Evan Longoria hit a bomb, this time off Saito, who you really can't blame as he was forced to pitch 2 innings since the Red Sox are short on relievers and there was really no one left. If the game had gone any longer the Sox were going to bring out Buchholz.
With the loss the Sox are now 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees for 1st place in the AL East, but I think we saw the coming out party for the Rays last night. They have kind of been the sleeping dragon all year, but if Garza can pitch like he did last night, and Kazmir continues to get healthy then this team is going to make this a 3 team race again quickly....
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