It's time to bury the Rays - Texas style

This is what Ray's Manager Joe Maddon said about last night's game:

"That was just a good old-fashioned whippin’ tonight,” said Maddon. “Believe it or not, this is an easier loss to accept. When you lose 2-1 or 3-2 on one play... those are the ones you go home and kind of beat yourself up after."

Tell that to Scott Kazmir (left)... I hope someone took him out for some ice cream, and maybe the strip club, cause that suicide stare he's got going makes me nervous for him.

Joe can tell Scott and all the other guys that's they need to push past last night's shellacking, but the fact of the matter is, the Rays have been struggling all month. The Rays have dropped 9 of 13 in September, erasing the magical 5-game lead they had over the Sox to start the month. Coming home this week was the one ray of hope (pun intended) but they were not prepared for a hungry Red Sox lineup fresh from a grind it out series with the Jays...

Now they'll have to dig against Josh Beckett, the man who laughed in the face of pressure through the 2007 postseason... He's still working his way back from his stint on the DL, but he's been extremely economic and efficient in his last two starts:

Sep 5 - 5.0 IP, 80 P / 49 strikes, 4 H, 7 K
Sep 10 - 6.0 IP, 84 P / 55 strikes, 6 H, 7 K

Josh has also dominated the Rays this season, though both starts came very early on. He fanned 13 and allowed just 1 earned run though 7 back on April 27th, but took the 0-3 loss thanks to James Shields' complete game effort. He faced them again on May 3rd and gave up 4 runs through 8 innings, earning the win.

Tonight the Rays will be countering with Sonnastine. He held the Sox to 4 hits through 7 in his last outing, but that was an abnormality for him as of late. "Sonny" had been averaged 4.3 RPG in the three starts before coming to Fenway and hadn't won since August 18th... It's not likely he'll hold the Sox down again this time. Sonny is also 7-3 at the Trop but has a 4.88 ERA and a .293 BAA...

After last night's home run derby, it's hard to guess Who to Watch tonight... but here's a few: Tek is 5 for 9 (.556) wit ha homer and 5 RBI against Sonny ... Jacoby has been hot lately, batting .333 over the past 7 games and has a homer off of Sonny ... and with Drew out until at least Friday, Coco and his .407 BA against Rays pitching should see more playing time ... Evan Longoria is 4 for 9 (.444) with a homer against Beckett, and he's batting .364 over the past 7 days...

Bottom Line: Beckett has been a bit of a question mark all season, but based on his last two starts, I think Captain Kickass is ready to prove that he is still the ace of this team.

I hope Maddon brought more money for ice creams again tonight.