Hard as it is to believe, it’s happening: the Red Sox are two innings into a game that seems like it will close out a Tampa Bay Rays sweep—one that will make the wild card far too vulnerable, especially given the recent play of Boston.
When the Sox most needed a strong performance from Jon Lester, they have received nothing of the sort. The Rays put their first four batters on the basepaths, and with the addition of a Casey Kotchman single with two outs, put up three runs in the inning, making Jon Lester toss over forty pitches to record just three outs.
The Red Sox’ offense did show some life in the top of the second, putting two men on before Jason Varitek grounded into a double play, and Jon Lester did finish the bottom half of the frame relatively strong, but unfortunately it seems unlikely that the lefty will even finish the fifth inning at the moment.