Tropic-ana Thunder

Well, that was a whitewash.

It would have been hard to draw up a better first win for Boston in the sanitized duality of a split-crowd Tropicana Field. Not only did the Red Sox roll up a rout, they battered the Rays' ace, hit more home runs than anyone could keep count of and got Daisuke Matsuzaka another win without extending him any more than they needed to.

Suddenly, not only is the division in a deadlock, the Red Sox seem to have a pitching edge tomorrow. And now they've proven that they can actually win in Tampa Bay when they need to. Add to that the continued improvement of players like Jed Lowrie and Coco Crisp in clutch situations -- i.e., the guys that weren't there last year are catching on -- and you have the makings of a real opportunity for Boston to steal something here. Not only can they grab the division lead heading down a tough stretch, they can steal momentum from Tampa Bay just days after they had taken it from the Red Sox and claimed it as their own.

Of course a Beckett meltdown and a subsequent Rays retaliation tomorrow could completely undo that shift in the blink of an eye. When you look at the schedule -- Blue Jays, Indians and Yankees for the Sox; Twins, Orioles and Tigers for the Rays -- Tampa clearly has an easier path toward the postseason. If they can scratch out a win over Beckett, that might well be enough to propel them back to the promised land of an AL East title and avoidance of the Angels in the first round. When it all shakes out, that's probably the most significant thing at stake, both tomorrow, Wednesday and in the run-out of the season.

That's why Monday night baseball was so important, and it's why Tuesday night with Beckett under the lights is so important, too. At midnight on Wednesday, everyone may have a more realistic answer when asked whether this Boston team can compete in the postseason the way the 2007 champions did.

It certainly looked like they could Monday.

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