After a satisfying series win in Cleveland, it was off to Tampa Bay, where the Sox can cash in 4 easy wins against the bottom-dwelling, perennially-losing Rays.
Now to confirm my statement by looking up the Rays' record in the paper to find that they're… 13 games over .500 in first place in the AL East?!
Cue Moe Szyslak: "Whaaaaaaaaa?"
Yes it's true, the Rays are ahead of the Yankees, ahead of the Red Sox in first place in the AL East. Actually, they have the best win-loss record in the entire American League, and I'm sure it's not going to shock you that it's the first time in franchise history they can say that going into June.
So despite the fact that they're still drawing less fans than professional badminton (it takes a Trace Adkins post game concert to set anybody in that stadium), the Rays were not going to be easy pickin's.
I guess we shouldn't be all that surprised at the result then, as the Sox lost all but one of the four games played at the Trop over the weekend. Spurred by outstanding baserunning and starting pitching, Joe Maddon's crew pulled out three close games-two in walk off fashion-to keep their 1-game lead on Boston in the AL East and send the Sox to within one game of those pesky Minnesota Twins in the Central.
More on Ozzie's fervent reaction to his team's malaise in a bit.
Discuss
JACK HEWITT, 06-02-2008
So far the Rays have averaged 18,446 per game, which is good for third worst in the league, but ain't exactly pro badminton... oh, wait, the 2005 world championship apparently sold 40,000 tickets... so I guess you're right (but that's more than the Sox have ever averaged in a season). I think (hope and pray) that a good analog for this years Rays is the 1991 Braves who went from 65 to 94 wins and their attendance jumped from 12,000 to 26,000, but was only 19,000 per game through May1. If the Rays keep it up I think they'll continue to pull in enough fans that they can afford another extension for BJ Upton.
I really thought there'd end up being a 2/2 split this series, but you've got to admit it was pretty impressive how they pulled out close games. The series in August should be a lot of fun. Who would have thought a Rays/Sox series in August could be meaningful?