Ramblings from the Nation – Tampa Bay Devil Rays

The Red Sox are in need of some offense. In the AL, they are 10th in BA, HR’s,Total Bases, Slugging, 11th in Runs, Hits, SB’s,13th in Triples, while 4th in GDP’s. When the Sox win scoring 8 or more runs, which has happened only 3 times, they have scored 1 run in the three subsequent games. When the pitching goes south, the team can’t win the slugfests once popular with this team…..The bottom 4 hitters in the lineup strikes fear in the eyes of Little Leaguers everywhere, but not pro players…..The Tampa Bay organization is having a tailgate party for fans Saturday afternoon, beginning at 3PM…..Mark Loretta needs a day or two off, as his average has fallen from .260 to .230 since his Patriot Day heroics…..Is it me, or does it seem if the opposition scores 2 or more runs early, the Sox have absolutely no chance of winning?.....Josh Beckett is looking pretty ordinary lately, while Tim Wakefield has been the teams best pitcher, although he is 1-4…..Devil Ray prospect Delmon Young, brother of Tiger Dmitri Young, whipped his bat at a replacement umpire after being ejected in a game vs. Pawtucket. He could have cause serious injury. Stick a fork in him….The Rays have had their share of injuries as Jorge Cantu, Rocco Baldelli (he lives on the DL), Aubrey Huff & Julio Lugo are all out of the lineup….Carl Crawford is back in the lineup after missing time due to the death of his grandmother…..The early returns show that the Reds got the bargain of the year in offloading Wily Mo Pena and acquiring Bronson Arroyo, who is off to a 4-0, 2.34 start. Bronson began last year 5-0…..Red Sox hitters are making # 4 and 5 starters look like # 1’s…..Infielder/outfielder Ty (Cy) Wigginton is a streaky player, and he is on an offensive hot streak right now. Defensively, he sucks though, committing two errors in one inning last week at Fenway…..Jerry Remy offered free merchandise on his website the other night. The site had so many hits that it crashed – died…..Beers are on me .....