During the nightcap of the double header rookie, Jake Odorizzi took to the hill to try and help the Rays to victory after a loss during the day game after a long, 3 hour, rain delay. No doubt Odorizzi did his part in pitching a gem for Tampa, keeping the Rays in the game with 5 2/3 innings 2 strikeouts and no walks only giving up a solo shot to Daniel Nava in the bottom of the second.

The Rays offense was absolutely nonexistent until the top of the ninth when Kelly Johnson, hitting out of the ninth spot in the order hit a solo homerun off Red Sox closer to tie the game at 1, giving Tampa Bay a chance to come back.  Unfortunately for the Rays, former Ray and current Red Sox left fielder Jonny Gomes had other plans, taking Joel Peralta deep over the monster for a two run walk off homerun, giving the Red Sox a 3-1 victory to end a grueling day/night double header.

The big news for this game would be Wil Myers’ first major league hit coming in the top of the second inning with a single to left field.  Myers finished the game 1-4 with a strikeout after going 0-4 during the day game.

Looking ahead to tomorrow Tampa Bay looks to avoid a sweep in Boston as Jeremy Hellickson (4-3, 5.67 ERA) takes to the mound for the Rays against Boston and pitcher Ryan Dempster (4-7, 4.21 ERA) in game 3 of the series for a 7:10 pm start at Fenway Park.

At the start, both pitchers struggled a bit with their command. It appeared as though the Rays would get to Aceves first, as he walked the bases loaded with two out in the bottom of the second. However, Aceves was able to get Yunel Escobar to ground to short to end the threat.

The Red Sox wound up getting the first runs of the game. After Archer got two outs, he gave up a single to Jacoby Ellsbury, who stole second. Jose Lobtaton’s throw was wild, putting Ellsbury to third. Yet, in the end, the error did not matter, as Daniel Nava deposited the tenth pitch of the at bat into the right field seats for a two run home run.

Tampa had another possible scoring opportunity in the bottom of the inning, putting runners on first and third with no one out. Aceves then flashed that ability that has been able to keep him in the Red Sox organization, striking out Kelly Johnson and getting Evan Longoria to ground into an inning ending double play. Boston then had a threat of their own in the top of the fourth, loading the bases themselves with two outs. This time, Archer was able to get some measure of revenge against Nava, striking him out to end the threat.

That strikeout would mark the last batter for Archer, who threw 103 pitches in four innings of work, giving up two runs on four hits and four walks. He did manage to strike out seven batters, but he had trouble finding the plate at times during his outing.

The Rays finally got on the board in the sixth. With one out, Longoria hit a home run to center, cutting the lead in half. Unfortunately, that would be the last real scoring threat that the Rays managed, as they fell to the Red Sox 2-1. Archer took the loss, dropping to 1-2 on the season. Longoria and Matthew Joyce were each 1-3 with a walk.

Since virtually the first moment they stepped on the same field, the Rays have been the bane of the Red Sox existence. At first, it may have just been the Rays attempting to stand up for themselves against a higher payroll team in the same division. However, it has turned into a full blown rivalry that can ignite at any given moment.

The first dose of bad blood came on August 29, 2000. Pedro Martinez hit Rays leadoff batter Gerald Williams, who charged the mound and threw a punch at Pedro. All that accomplished was to anger Martinez, who mowed through the Rays lineup, finishing with a one hitter in a game where five Rays players, two coaches and the manager were ejected.

Then we move on to May 5, 2002, when Ryan Rupe drilled two batters in the first inning. In the second, Trot Nixon claimed to ‘lose the grip on his bat’ as it flew out to the mound at Rupe. Frank Castillo drilled Randy Winn in retaliation, and Nixon and Castillo both earned four and five game suspensions respectively.

Next, we move forward another two years, to September 27, 2004. Bronson Arroyo drilled Aubrey Huff and Tino Martinez, which led to Scott Kazmir hitting Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar in consecutive at bats. Kazmir and manager Lou Pinella were both tossed from the game, as the benches cleared following this latest beanball war.

Another beanball war erupted between the Red Sox and Rays from April 22nd through the 24th, 2005. Three batters were hit in the first game, with two more getting drilled in the second meeting, with Millar getting drilled in both. After Lance Carter threw a pitch at David Ortiz‘s head during the third game, the benches cleared and four players were ejected.

Then we come to perhaps the most memorable scrap, when James Shields drilled Coco Crisp the game after the Red Sox outfielder took out Akinori Iwamura with a hard slide into second on a steal attempt. Crisp charged the mound after getting hit in the leg, and Shields threw a wild punch at him. Crisp swung back, and his punch missed connecting due to Dioner Navarro getting to Crisp at that moment. The benches cleared, and Crisp, Shields and Jonny Gomes were ejected.

This bad blood has even spilled over to the preseason. This year, after Sean Rodriguez hit a home run in Spring training off the always combustible Alfredo Aceves. Naturally, Aceves hit Rodriguez with a pitch the next time up, leading to a shouting match where Rodriguez had to be restrained from charging the mound. Then there was the incident Monday night, where Matthew Joyce was hit by John Lackey following the long drive that went just foul, on the heels of a home run in his previous at bat, eventually touching off another benches clearing incident.

The Red Sox fans can think of the Yankees as their rivals all they want, but for the players, it appears as though the Rays and Red Sox are truly rivals in the American League East. Seemingly any time these two teams get together, tempers could flare instantly. In fact, given the mutual disdain that seems to be prevalent between these teams, and how both have generally been competitive over the past five years, the Rays and Red Sox may have become the best true rivalry in baseball.