Rays @ Red Sox Preview

I doubt they will play tonight, and maybe that's a good thing.

The Rays put James Shields on the hill against John Lackey. Lackey has a win, but has been horrible (15.58 ERA), and I really don't see him playing better anytime soon. Maybe I have just gone sour, but what about his game gives you confidence? No matter what Lackey will let up at least 4 runs, and right now Boston's offense is not good enough to overcome that.

I can point to three people that are truly causing this offensive debacle. Ellsbury, Crawford, and Youk. Ellsbury was supposed to be the leadoff hitter, but he hasn't shown a ability to get on the bases, which makes him completely not affective. Thus, Tito dropped him to the bottom of the order. Crawford took over the top spot in the order and is batting less then .150. He seems completely not confident in himself, and even when he gets on base he makes bone headed mistakes like getting picked off. Then there is Youk, who is our cleanup hitter and is hitting .182. He used to be one of the best hitters with runners in scoring position, but has done nothing this year. At least with Youk he still walks, but that's not good enough if you're batting 4th.

So, yes I am going to pick the Rays, and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe the Sox need us all to stop acting like nothing is wrong. Right now, they have 2 SPs that you can't see pitching well (Lackey, Dice-K), two question marks (Buccholz, Beckett), and an ace (Lester). A lineup that has a bunch of holes, and a coach that seems to be panicking. I guess you can say the backend of the bullpen has looked good, but that's about it.

Rays win 7-4
Player of the Game: Fuld
Game starts at 7:10PM