Dragnet Rotational Forces: Rays at Sox

So, a night after Clay Buchholz made it two strong starts in a row - Inside Edge graded him out at a B-, which is pretty hard to argue with (he might have scored higher if he'd been allowed to keep pitching into the game) - Josh Beckett heads back to the hill after a career-high 13 strikeouts last Sunday ... and a loss.


Needless to say, that should provide all the motivation the tall Texan needs heading into another game against the resurgent Rays, who really may not be going away this year. If last night proved anything, it's that even when they don't have the gumption for a tough potential road win at Fenway, they still have the mettle to make things interesting. If Clay Buchholz hadn't had his fish-hook curve going so well that he could quite literally strike out the side when he hit patches of control trouble, the Legal's clam chowder might have been a lot harder to digest for the hardy fans who waited out a 2:30 rain delay before things even got going.

More significant in last night's win, of course, was the resurrection of Boston's bats, who finally put together a big inning and, as a result, more than a pair of runs for a change. David Ortiz looks better and better game-by-game, the sight of Mike Lowell back in the lineup is one of the more comforting visuals that doesn't involve apple pie, Thanksgiving or, well, some things that are probably not best discussed on a baseball blog. And tonight is highlighted by the triumphant return of J.D. Drew which, amazingly, WMYM can type with a completely straight face. He was off to a strong start before the latest of his perennial injuries, so putting his bat back in the order almost returns a sense of normalcy to the Boston batters.

Unfortunately for the Sox, they're facing off against a pitcher who's become a bit of a significant nemesis. Tampa  Bay's James Shields - evidently he REALLY doesn't want to be called Jamie anymore - kept the entire Red Sox order under wraps last Sunday. He went the whole way, shut out and shut down the power bats (Big Papi was sitting the game out) and the speed guys and really made the final result almost a de facto win ... despite the ridiculous numbers Beckett was putting up during his trips to the mound.

If you want a truly scary realization, consider this: Both Beckett and Shields are 26. That's right, even though Shields is often talked about as a young "up and coming" hurler, he's no younger than his opposite tonight, who already has two World Series rings, a World Series and ALCS MVP and, well, a whole lot of deer heads as hunting trophies. Maybe Shields has hunting trophies, too. Can't be sure about that. But we can be sure that tonight should provide another hell of a pitching matchup. Buckle up fans, we won't even have the 2:30-plus prelude with miserable weather.

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