The Sox offense came through on a night where Jon Lester wasn’t at his best. The Sox won the game 8-6 on the on the strength of a 5-run 4th inning. Jonathan Papelbon was extremely nasty in getting 3 strikeouts in his 1 1/3 innings. No Eric Gagné out of the bullpen last night even though he was available. Maybe Francona has seen enough of him although the scary thing is that it will be him and Mike Timlin available at the end of the game tonight. The Sox win coupled with the Yanks getting shellacked by the Angels, puts the lead back in the AL East at 6 games. A little breathing room is nice but about 4 more games between them would be even better. Before Dice-K takes his warmup pitches at the Trop, let’s take a look at what the scribes from the Boston and Tampa areas had to say about last night’s game and other happenings.
Same Old Combo Made To Order [Hartford Courant]
Rays Fall Behind Early To Red Sox [Tampa Tribune]
Sunshine state [Boston Globe]
A hole dug just deep enough [St. Petersburg Times]
Sox, Papelbon seal the deal against D-Rays [Pro Jo]
Sox pick up Lester: Lefty scuffles, but bats, ’pen shine [Boston Herald]
A Draft Warms Them Up [Hartford Courant]
Kazmir Frustrated With Pitch-Count Policy [Tampa Tribune]
New pitch, same story for Papelbon [Boston Globe]
Schilling shows Rays some love [St. Petersburg Times]
Schilling ponders free agent future [Boston Herald]
Lester didn’t feel like winner after inconsistent showing [Pro Jo]
Close quarters in Sox ’pen [Boston Herald]
For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune websites.
