The Rays scored their runs in the first on a Ben Zobrist RBI single and a 2-run single by Desmond Jennings. After that, the Rays managed at least one baserunner in every inning but the 5th and 8th, even drawing 3 walks from Alfredo Aceves in the 9th to bring the tying run to the plate, but they couldn’t score anyone else. The Rays banged out 10 hits, drew 5 walks, and even got a hit batsman as well, but they went just 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base to end up with just 3 runs. Ben Zobrist had 3 hits and Will Rhymes, Carlos Pena and Elliot Johnson had multi-hit games as well, but they could not get that to translate to runs. Other than that, the one big highlight in this game was Wade Davis, who got on track after a string of frustrating outings, going 2 innings allowing just 1 hit and striking out 4 while walking 1.

With the loss, the Rays remain 8.5 games back in the AL East with the Yankees losing as well, and they begin a 4-game set versus the Indians on Monday. The Rays had a setback in their first series of the second half, and they have to get things turned around, fast.

Robbie Knopf: The Red Sox have rebounded from 9 losses in 10 games to win 5 in a row against the Indians and Mariners. Are the Red Sox finally started to hit their stride?

Derek Skytalo: The Sox are playing better baseball and are doing so by having solid pitching in sync with their offense.  Some say the Indians were playing over their head and that losing three in a row to Boston was a reality check for them.  I disagree.  I think Cleveland has the foundation to be a good team and for Boston to take three of four is a testament to perhaps having this club turn the corner. It looks like they are hitting their stride but the real test comes over the next two weeks with two series against Tampa and throw in Baltimore, the Phillies and Tigers, we’ll see if this Red Sox club is for real if they can compete and win some of the upcoming series.

Being the optimist that I am I think they will win some of these series as the starting pitching has improved dramatically, the bullpen is lights out (which is hard to believe given the start of the season) and the offense is getting production from different players on any given night.

RK: Will Middlebrooks has been outstanding since coming up and has already slammed 4 home runs in 11 games (double as many as Adrian Gonzalez in less than a third of the games). Just how good as Middlebrooks been and how exciting are you about his potential? Will he be be in the big leagues to stay?

DS: This kid is the future third baseman for the Red Sox for a reason and we are seeing why during his presence with the big club.  He’s showing tremendous power as evidenced by collecting an extra base hit in his first five games in the majors and as you mentioned the 4 home runs, the first of which was a grand slam.  His defense needs a little spit and polish but he certainly has better range than Youkilis at the hot corner.

As if Sox fans didn’t have enough to debate over, the big question now is what to do with Middlebrooks when Youkilis returns, which is going to be sooner than later given he’s starting in triple-A tonight.  Youkilis won’t be back next year with a team option for $13 million so it will remain to be seen if the club trades him soon or at the July deadline.  It’s hard to fathom having to send Middlebrooks to Pawtucket based on how well he’s played and there might be a riot on Yawkey Way if that did happen. The fans have taken to this kid that much.  The problem lies on getting a team to take Youkilis without proving he’s healthy.  The only way that can happen is to bring him back from the DL and have him play on a regular basis.  The next problem then is what do they do with Middlebrooks?  The outfield is not an option and neither is any other infield position as he’s only ever played third base.  I’m glad I’m not having to make this decision.

RK: The Red Sox’ rotation has not exactly impressed, posting a 5.24 ERA (even when excluded Aaron Cook‘s disaster of a start). The two guys Red Sox fans have to be worried about are Clay Buchholz, who had an 8.23 ERA with more walks than strikeouts and a ton of homers allowed as well (7.43 FIP), and Josh Beckett, who had a 5.97 ERA and a similar 6.03 FIP entering Tuesday thanks to a ton of homers allowed as well. And then there was the incident where he was scratched from a start and played golf the next day. Their xFIPs have been quite a bit better (4.90 and 4.33 respectively), but still not what we expected from pitchers of their caliber. How concerned about you about them and about the Red Sox rotation in general?

DS: It’s hard to believe that the Sox rotation is in this type of mess.  But there is promise on the horizon given the last outings by Jon Lester, Felix Doubront, Daniel Bard and Buchholz.  Even though it was the first good outing from Buchholz, he did show flashes of his old repertoire, one that can get him out of trouble. His ERA is subject to debate as he’s been victim to Bobby Valentine’s slow hook with his pitchers, allowing Buchholz to face one, sometimes two too many batters.  The result is a John Lackey ERA.  With that argument aside, his mechanics have not been good.  I don’t know if his back is still bothering him or he’s afraid to re-injure it, but he hasn’t been getting his fastball down and balls are flying out of parks at an alarming rate.  Buchholz did buy himself more time with his last start, but with Aaron Cook and Dice-K closing in on returning, another falter from Buchholz could see him spending some time in triple-A to work out the kinks.

As I touched on briefly, the other three starters appear to be rounding into form.  Felix Doubront only gave up 3 hits over 6 innings his last time out, Bard was better, but still needs to work on his control and Lester is coming off a complete game; promising to say the least.  At least until you get to Mr. Ego – Josh Beckett.

I left him for last.  I’m not sure if you have a limit when it comes to how long you want the answers to be so I’ll try not to write a short story.  Given the antics from Beckett, one could go on for pages. In short, he’s a walking circus.  He doesn’t give a hoot about what you or anyone else thinks and he’ll tell you that.  The problem is, is that his last start was a complete joke when he couldn’t get out of the third inning.  Personally I don’t care that he went golfing, I’m just so sick of all the off-field BS that surrounds this team, I just want to focus on baseball.  It is worth noting that his four previous starts to his last one he threw four quality starts.  So while his numbers are higher than normal there is a silver lining to this cloud.  His ERA is high and he hasn’t missed many bats lately, but this team needs him to pitch well if they have any chance to contend, which I think they can.  If he can have a good start against Seattle it will quiet the mob for a while. If he goes out and throws meatballs for three innings, he better enlist in the witness protection program or he’ll be on the first duck boat out of Boston. (Update: Beckett tossed 7 shutout innings against the Mariners on Tuesday, striking out 9 while walking 2.) Fans want him traded, even sent to the minors but in reality a trade is going to be more difficult than what some want to believe.  If the Sox struggle and are seemingly out of the running come late July, maybe a market develops for a guy who has a 1.16 ERA and a 0.846 WHIP in three World Series games.

Overall, the success of the Red Sox this season rests on the two guys you mentioned; Buchholz and Beckett.  If both struggle replacing them with Aaron Cook and Daisuke Matsuzaka will not stop the bleeding, so both need to figure out what’s going on and straighten it out.  Personally, I think they will, I just hope it’s sooner than later.

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We’d like to thank Derek for answering our questions, and I also answered a few of Derek’s questions about the Rays for Bosox Injection, which you can find here. This should be a fun Rays-Red Sox series, and after the Red Sox took 3 of 4 versus the Rays last time around at Fenway Park, hopefully the Rays can continue their outstanding home performance by taking 2 of 2 versus the Red Sox over the next couple of days.

On the heels of Luke Scott calling Fenway Park a ‘dump’, the Red Sox were anything but hospitable in their home opener.

Today’s pitching match-up featured David Price against Josh Beckett, and had all the makings of a low scoring affair. The first inning certainly lived up to that billing, as Beckett pitched around a Carlos Pena double, which Price recorded a perfect opening frame. In the second, the Rays had an opportunity to jump on the Sox. Ben Zobrist led off the inning with a base hit to center. Jeff Keppinger then followed with a double to left, scoring Zobrist and giving the Rays an early 1-0 lead. Stephen Vogt grounded out to second, allowing Keppinger to move to third base with one out. However, the opportunity was squandered, as Jose Molina and Reid Brignac both grounded out to short, stranding the runner.

Price ran into trouble of his own in the bottom of the second. Kevin Youkilis led off the inning with a single to center. David Ortiz then walked, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Price was able to fight back, striking out both Darnell McDonald and Cody Ross before getting Mike Aviles to ground out to second base to end the inning.

The third inning, however, was a different story. Beckett pitched a perfect frame in the top of the inning. Price then came out and hit Kelly Shoppach with a pitch. Jacoby Ellsbury hit a double to left, advancing Shoppach to third. Dustin Pedroia walked to load the bases with no one out. Adrian Gonzalez hit a single to left, plating Shoppach and tying the game at one. Youkilis hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Ellsbury as Pedroia advanced to third, giving the Sox a 2-1 lead. Ortiz then reached on an infield single to third, which allowed Pedroia to score for a 3-1 Sox advantage. Price then walked McDonald to load the bases once again, before getting Cody Ross to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

Price was finished after the third inning and 83 pitches, having given up 4 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 3. Burke Badenhop came on for the fourth inning. Aviles led off the inning, and grounded to short. Shoppach followed, and doubled to center. Ellsbury followed with a single to right, scoring Shoppach and giving the Sox a 4-1 lead. Pedroia then grounded to short for a double play, ending the inning.

The double play also ended Ellsbury’s day, as Brignac landed on Ellsbury’s arm after he attempted to break up the double play. Ryan Sweeney entered the game to play right, as Cody Ross moved over to center. It was later announced that he may have suffered a dislocation/subluxation of his right shoulder, which would sideline him for a minimum of 6-8 weeks.

Wade Davis entered for the Rays in the bottom of the fifth, and was lights out, keeping the Rays in the game. In the three innings he pitched, he only allowed two hits, a single in each of the sixth and seventh innings, while striking out three batters. However, the Rays were unable to generate any offense against Beckett, who continued his strong outing.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the wheels came off. Joel Peralta entered the game, and proceeded to napalm the game. McDonald led off the inning with a double to deep center. Cody Ross and Aviles walked, loading the bases. Shoppach, continuing a phenomenal game, doubled to left, plating McDonald and Ross and giving the Sox a 6-1 lead. Peralta was then lifted in favor of Josh Lueke, who would prove to be only slightly more effective. Ryan Sweeney greeted Lueke with a single to right, plating Aviles and Shoppach, giving the Sox an 8-1 advantage. Sweeney advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Pedroia reached on an infield single to short. Gonzalez followed with a single to shallow center, loading the bases yet again. Youkilis hit a single to center, scoring Sweeney and Pedrioa, and giving the Sox a 10-1 lead. Ortiz followed with a double to left which plated Gonzalez, putting the score to 11-1. McDonald walked, reloading the bases. The Rays finally got an out, as Cody Ross hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Youkilis and giving the Sox a 12-1 lead. Aviles followed with another single, loading the bases for the third time in the inning. Kelly Shoppach was finally kept off the basepaths as he popped out to short. Sweeney flied out to left to end the inning. Peralta and Lueke combined to give up 8 hits and 3 walks in the inning, allowing 8 runs to score.

Mark Melancon relieved Beckett to start the ninth inning. Beckett left the game giving up 1 earned run on 5 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 1 batter. Following a Matt Joyce fly out to center, Zobrist hit a solo home run to right, cutting the lead to 12-2. However, Melancon shut the door afterwards, getting Keppinger to ground out to first and striking out Vogt to end the game.

Every year, there are games like this. Hopefully, the Rays can rebound tomorrow.