After cruising through the first four innings with relative ease, Justin Masterson ran into some trouble in the 5th inning last night with the Tampa Bay Rays. He entered the inning with a 2-0 lead but at the end of it, the Boston Red Sox found themselves trailing 6-2.
Masterson had owned Evan Longoria up until that fateful 5th. He got ahead of him 0-2 before Longoria battled back to 2-2. Then all it took was one swing of the bat from Longoria who guessed right and crushed the decisive grand slam. Carlos Peña rubbed a little salt in the wound when he followed the grand slam with a solo shot of his own.
The Red Sox were then shut down by the Rays bullpen the rest of the way to continue their woes at Tropicana Field.
The loss last night for the local nine was their 11th in their last 12 games at Tropicana Field. Something has to give there at some point. In order for the Red Sox to win the AL East this year, they are going to win at the Trop and also beat the Rays at home. The Rays have already taken 2-of-3 from the Red Sox at Fenway Park this season.
Maybe the Red Sox should just wave the white flag and save themselves the trouble of going to Tampa. Either that or find an explosives expert to implode the Tropicana Dome. At this point, either one works for me.
Longoria was the grand marshal of this one [Boston Globe]
Justin Masterson can’t stop bleeding [Boston Herald]
Six-run fifth inning does in Masterson, Boston [Providence Journal]
Red Sox thrown for loss [Boston Globe]
Tito not down on Papi [Boston Herald]
Month without a home run is a first for David Ortiz [Providence Journal]
Another flop at Trop [Boston Globe]
Josh Beckett a mystery [Boston Herald]
Matsuzaka is Pawtucket-bound; Baldelli may be, too [Providence Journal]
Ortiz can’t find power switch [Boston Globe]
Evan Longoria tearing Red Sox staff apart [Boston Herald]
Kotsay to Pawtucket tomorrow to begin rehab assignment [Projo Sox Blog]
Beckett’s bumps no cause for concern [redsox.com]
Big problems for Big Papi [Tony Massarotti Blog]
Papi pressing for power [redsox.com]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, 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.
