Against the Ropes

If it was a boxing match, we'd be on the verge of TKO. Luckily the bell sounded and they get to head back to their corner and regroup and try to change the game plan mid fight.

The Rays have been throwing and landing the haymakers. 31 runs in 3 games covering 29 innings is quite impressive. That is over 1 run per inning. Meanwhile, the jabs from the Red Sox have not been able to penetrate the tough defense.

The Rays really have the Sox on the ropes. This is a position that they have been in and have fought back from before. Will the Rays let them off the hook? In a curious move, Rays manager Joe Maddon is pushing up Scott Kazmir to pitch Game 5 tomorrow and pushing James Shields back to pitch game 6. With the way Kazmir has been struggling lately, it seems Maddon is conceding game 5 to the Sox, even though another get by Dice-K similar to game 1's outing is unlikely.

Is Maddon afraid of wasting another Shields outing, and having Kazmir have another bad outing in game 6, thus allowing the Sox to get back to even with Lester ready to go in a game 7? Or is it because of some history between Kazmir and umpire Daryll Cousins, who will be behind the plate for game 6? I don't know. The Red Sox bats have been quite stymied and frustrated the last 2 games, could Kazmir be the wake-up call they need to get back in the series?

It will be interesting to see how this move pans out for the Rays. While the Evan Longoria 1st inning HR off Beckett in game 2 seemed to revive the Rays, could Kazmir be the remedy for the Sox to get right back in this?

We'll see! Go Sox!

On a side note, there was a nice piece in today's USA Today about some legendary play-by-play guys. Vin Scully and Harry Kalas are broadcasting legends. I can remember NBC Saturday Baseball games manned by Scully and Joe Garagiola, not too mention the many World Series games he's called. I was more familiar with Harry Kalas as the narrator for a lot of the NFL Films productions, with his unique voice. While dating my wife, and the many times I drove to her place, for some reason the local Boston AM station wouldn't come in (mind boggling), but somehow I could pick up 1210 AM out of Phillie, and hear Kalas call the Phillies games for part of the ride. To me, these are the voice of baseball, along with Mel Allen who I knew mostly from This Week in Baseball. How about that? Anyway, a nice piece to take a look at.