Red Sox 2, Rays 4: Turn Out The Lights

The gates are closed on Fenway Park's 2012 schedule. Her 100th anniversary coming to an ending appropriate for the season, if not for the occasion. Playing their final home game of the year, the Red Sox suffered a typical disappointing loss.

For four innings, Jon Lester built expectations. The Rays were in town, and that was enough to make this game one worth winning. But Lester played with their being something more to the night. 13 up, 13 down, albeit with a walk mixed in to nix the perfect game even if a double play erased the runner. Entering the fifth, the board still showed zero in the hits column, and that was enough to get the whispers going.

But of course, Lester's strong start only served to make his fifth inning collapse that much more jarring. From four innings of nearly perfect protection to a pair of homers that turned the no-hit bid into a two-run deficit.Where Lester had dominated, he now stood on the verge of collapse.

That collapse did not come, to be fair, but it didn't have to either. The Red Sox lineup did its best imitation of a punching bag for the rest of the game, putting together just two runs total despite the relatively early departure of Alex Cobb from the game in the fifth.

A team does not win many games when any stretch of its lineup features Daniel Nava, Jose Iglesias, Pedro Ciriaco, and Scott Podsednik. These losses were not unexpected. Still, after these last four games the Sox have played against Tampa Bay, it feels like perhaps there's a minimum threshold that's gone unobserved, with neither team performances nor individual showings providing any sort of positives.

Then again, it's just been that kind of year on the whole, hasn't it?

Game 156

Wednesday Red Sox Lineup: Good News, Bad News

The good news is that we won't have to put up with Che-Hsuan Lin and Jose Iglesias batting back-to-back anymore.

The bad news is that we're still talking about a Red Sox lineup, and one that's still without Jacoby Ellsbury. At what point does this stop being an annoying sidestory and become a serious concern about his durability? I mean, beyond the concerns any of us might already have.

Since neither Lin nor Ellsbury is in, that means it's Scott Podsednik time in center field. Both Lavarnway and Salty will find their way into the lineup as well, with Mauro Gomez the odd man out in the first base/catcher/DH mess that the team is currently dealing with.

Boston Red Sox (69-86)

1. Pedro Ciriaco, 3B
2. Scott Podsednik, CF
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
4. Cody Ross, RF
5. James Loney, 1B
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
7. Ryan Lavarnway, DH
8. Daniel Nava, LF
9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Tampa Bay Rays (84-70)

1. Desmond Jennings, RF
2. B.J. Upton, CF
3. Ben Zobrist, SS
4. Evan Longoria, 3B
5. Jeff Keppinger, DH
6. Carlos Pena, 1B
7. Ben Francisco, LF
8. Ryan Roberts, 2B
9. Jose Lobaton, C

Red Sox 2, Rays 5: He Pulls You Right Back In

The Red Sox fell 5-2 Tuesday night as Clay Buchholz added another chapter to his tortuous roller coaster ride of a season.

Game Thread 155

The Red Sox send Clay Buchholz to the mound against David Price with another opportunity to play spoiler.

Tuesday Red Sox Vs. Rays Lineups: The Undynamic Duo

We've seen some really bad lineups this year, and as with any other lineups, they only get worse as you go from the top three down on towards number nine.

But this? This is something else.

Che-Hsuan Lin will start tonight in center field, as Jacoby Ellsbury's mysterious injury "situation" persists into its sixth day. With Jose Iglesias sticking in the shortstop position, that makes for an ugly 8-9 combo--the ugliest I can remember seeing from the Sox. They're not quite identical--each is a defensive genius and offensive black hole, but Iglesias struggles with discipline while Lin could draw plenty of walks if he were threatening enough that pitchers would occasionally throw him balls.

Boston Red Sox (69-85)

1. Pedro Ciriaco, DH
2. Daniel Nava, LF
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
4. Cody Ross, RF
5. Mauro Gomez, 1B
6. Ryan Lavarnway, C
7. Danny Valencia, 3B
8. Che-Hsuan Lin, CF
9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Tampa Bay Rays (83-70)

1. Desmond Jennings, LF
2. B.J. Upton, CF
3. Ben Zobrist, SS
4. Evan Longoria, 3B
5. Luke Scott, DH
6. Jeff Keppinger, 2B
7. Matt Joyce, RF
8. Carlos Pena, 1B
9. Jose Molina, C

Series Preview: Tampa Bay Rays

It's just a two-game series, but the Red Sox could do a lot of damage to Tampa Bay's playoff hopes in it.