Boston 2
Tampa Bay 5

Of course, this has to happen after I smugly proclaim the Red Sox baseball’s best team in the Power Rankings.

The Devil Rays managed to avoid the weekend sweep at home, as Scott Kazmir made minced meat out of the bulk of Boston’s lineup, as he is known to do on occasion. The young left-hander made Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz both look like Little Leaguers (not the good Little Leaguers…I’m talking about the kids that get stuck playing right field, i.e. me 15 years ago).

Manager Joe Madden apparently wanted to lose this game to the Red Sox, as he took Kazmir out after 6 innings of work, a move embodying what is in my opinion the worst trend in modern baseball: the continuing pussification of starting pitchers. That is a column for another day.

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched well; he was genuinely blowing away some tough hitters during the first 6 innings of the game, but his hiccup in the 7th inning proved fatal.

I’m not going to spend too much time on this game, as it was one of those frustrating Sunday afternoon affairs where you are longing for an offensive explosion, but instead get treated to the muffled sound of strangulation at the hands of a sub-par team. The one bright spot: once Madden haphazardly took Kazmir out of the game, both Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis went yard.

Manny, in particular, is in one of his “zones”, where he becomes the scourge of the American League, an abominable hitting machine, for an extended period of time. It happens every year, and it is happening right now. Since the All-Star Break, the future Hall of Famer is hitting .390/.472/.763.

Monday brings another nice pitching match up, as the underrated Erik Bedard (10-4, 3.05, 11.12 K/9!!) takes on Josh Beckett (13-4, 3.27).