How the tables have turned. At the start of the year, who would have predicted that the Rays would have fallen so far? Certainly not me. The season can't end soon enough for the Rays: the only contest they face now is to avoid breaking their club record for consecutive losses (15), having lost their last 11 games.
After a taut first game, the Sox faced another tough pitcher in James Shields. They scratched out a run in the second on a RBI ground out by Lowell, and two more in the sixth; Bay added a homer in the eight, his 32nd. Lester was dominant, K'ing seven while allowing only three walks and two hits.
Wagner took the mound in the 9th to preserve the 4-0 lead, and gave his best vintage-2009 Jonathan Papelbon impersonation: he allowed two baserunners and threw only fastballs, and he closed it out without surrendering a run. Nicely done, boys, although at this point, beating Tampa is like, well, shooting fish in a barrell.