Let’s start the Flop at the Trop with a musical montage from before and after the game from the fine musical montage makers at NESN.
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I am beginning to wonder if the Boston Red Sox exercised their demons they have at Tropicana Field by chopping the head off of a live chicken like they wanted to in Bull Durham to get the hex off of Jose’s glove. Well whatever they did it worked as the Red Sox just obliterated Scott Kazmir and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Kazmir had a rough start to the game throwing 9 straight balls and then giving up back-to-back home runs to give the Red Sox a 4-0 lead before recording an out. It didn’t get any better for him later on as he was charged with the 5 of the 7 runs the Red Sox put up in the 4th inning. The latter part of the game resembled a spring training game as both teams got some of their September callups into the game.
Has anyone ever seen a pitcher with a 17-2 record only throw 5 innings? I honestly don’t know how Daisuke Matsuzaka does it and I’m not sure I want to know. Seriously though, does he like to pitch with men on base or something?
It was funny before the game when Tom Caron told Jerry Remy to expect 250 pitches from both Kazmir and Dice-K with RemDawg yelling “nooooooooo”. It was pretty close to that for the game and Dice-K had 101 pitches in his 5 innings. The scary part though is the fact he only gave up 1 run on 3 hits and 4 walks. He is truly earning his “Houdini” nickname.
So after 60 days of looking up at the Rays in the AL East, the Red Sox are now tied for first place and with another win in the last two games of this series, they can leave Tampa tied for first. Obviously 2 wins means they leave in first 2 games up or two losses means they leave 2 games down. I’m hoping for at least 1 more win and would very happy with 2 more before heading to Toronto for the weekend.
Plenty more Red Sox and Rays news after the jump.
Mike Lowell revealed before the game that he will most likely need to undergo surgery for a torn labrum in his hip. He does plan to play through the pain as much as he can.
Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton won’t be back anytime soon for the Rays.
J.D. Drew, who will rejoin the Red Sox today, left a message that his back was feeling much better. He most likely won’t play until Friday night in Toronto though.
Since the Red Sox are chasing the Rays for the AL East crown, Terry Francona can’t be a fan of the Rays.
“The Rays are certainly the story of the year, and I understand that. If it wasn’t for us, I would be a fan of them. I’m not,” he said. “I really want to win. But I would hate to be walking around here like, ‘Oh, we’re the team that’s been here.’ We need to match the energy if not exceed their energy. I don’t see why (these are) any bigger for them than they are for us.”
The Rays got a rude awakening during the Flop at the Trop.
There were more Red Sox fans than Rays fans at the Trop last night.
Lee County is trying to do everything they can to keep the Red Sox from moving to Sarasota.
Josh Beckett’s #1 priority right now is the team and not whether or not he starts the first game of a potential playoff series.
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.
And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times websites.
