I want to blame Mike Timlin... but...

It's official. The Josh Beckett circa 2007 is gone. I don't know where he went... and I'm starting to wonder if he was really a robot from the future.

Beckett was handed a 2-0 lead before he even took the mound but gave it right back on a Longoria home run. Then Pedroia the Destroyah broke out of his slump wit ha solo shot, but Beckett gave that back also, coughing up a solo shot to Upton and a fifth run on a Crawford single. Cliff Floyd would add one more for good measure in the 4th and then things went to hell in the 5th.

The Destroyah, Youk and Bay all homered in the top of the inning, quieting the cowbells and grabbing a 6-5 lead. But Josh just didn't have it and once again he handed runs back to the Rays. And Lopez came in to retire the lefty Crawford, but gave up an RBI single on the first pitch... it just wasn't our night.

Dustin Pedroia (3-5, 2 HR, 4 R, 2 RBI), Kevin Youkilis (3-6, HR, 2 R, RBI) and Jason Bay (3-5, HR, 1 R, 4 RBI) did everything they could to win this game, but the Sox just couldn't put the nail in the coffin and when (as Surviving Grady put it) the human white flag known as Mike Timlin came out for the 11th, you knew this thing was over.

So, we split at the Trop... that's all many of us were hoping for. But an unsettling tend is developing...

The postseason magic has been sucked out of David Ortiz's bat. He's walking like a champ but he's just 4 for 23 (.174) with one extra base hit and 1 RBI in the playoffs.

Jacoby Ellsbury has become fielding practice for the opposing pitchers... he's 0 for his last 15 and seems to slap a soft hopper to the mound in every at-bat.

And Josh Beckett is cooked... and the Sox aren't telling us everything...

Bottom Line: These 3 guys carried us to the promise land in 2007. Now all three of them have been rendered useless. Lester, Youk and Bay have been the heroes of 2008, but if the Sox want a repeat, The Large Father needs to wake up and our lead off man needs to start bunting or something!

"We're not frustrated," Mike Timlin said. "You come down to somebody else's place and you split, we're still looking pretty good."

Okay Mikey... I'll roll with you for now... but only if you promise to stay in that bullpen next week, you got it!?