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Ells drives in another run tonight. Iggy scores! Thank God he still knew how to run the bases. Sox really have a shot now that they are into that terrific Rays pen. Game now tied with Ells at second.

The AL West has really pulled itself up this year along with the O's in the East. The O's look like they will either beat out the Spanks for the Eastern Div Crown or will be one of the WC teams. Would love to see them drive the Spanks into that one game play in. It is getting to the point where Oakland would have to pull a mini-fold for the Angels to catch them and the Rays would almost have to win out from here to go anywhere.

You wonder if management's reaction to the low attendance of the last couple nights in Ray-ville is immediate and if that causes some tension for the team by itself. We are so used to being in an environment where it almost does not matter how poorly the team is playing, Fenway is basically still packed out or at least it has been. Maybe Madden gets a text message about the attendance almost immediately when it goes downhill this badly and does that s*** flow downhill from Madden after that. Here in Ray-ville it seems that 1-5 road trip had an immediate impact on ticket sales for the Rays. There is just nobody there tonight and there wasn't last night either.

Obviously, Felix tosses up a ball that Longoria can drive to the outfield and here comes the 3rd run of the inning. Rays dugout turning into a soap opera the last couple nights....that apple firmly lodged in their throats it appears.

All coming apart for Felix now. After walking the bases full, Felix just grooved one to Zobriest who jumped on it driving in 2 runs. Felix does have an out this inning so he could induce a DP and be out of this mess.

Felix falling apart here in the 3rd pulls a "Nuke" LaLouche and walks two straight guys, the last one on four straight balls. Complaining to the ump but according to the pitch location software, has nothing to complain about. I have to admit I was kinda' surprised when they brought Felix back from his "rest". Since it was thought he was going to run into a innings problem, I thought he would simply not be back at least not until maybe something like the very end. He has now thrown 8 straight balls and he might have a complaint about Ball 8. Ball 8 happens when you can't find the plate though.

There is no new game thread tonight for this second game at the Rays so I thought I would post here. The Echo-dome appears to be ghost town again tonight. Ells lost one in that ridiculous ceiling but got back on it to make the catch. You can tell that Pedey is really on it as he is just as likely to hit the ball to right as to left. Where you throw it, he will hit it. Just missed driving Ells home for the first run of the game.

I wonder how the Sox will handle Tazawa going forward. It would appear pretty clear that he is a talented pitcher. It does seem like V has been moving him closer and closer to critical parts of the game. Maybe his immediate future (as in 2013) will be to become Mr 8th inning set up guy. It would be pretty neat for the Sox to have a guy that they could depend on in that role again. At the very least it would seem that Tazawa could be Mr 7th inning. Although at this stage of the game, he might be the best 8th inning guy they would have. There is always the chance that they could split up the 7th inning assignment based on who was coming to the plate for the opponent.

I wonder how the Sox will handle Tazawa going forward. It would appear pretty clear that he is a talented pitcher. It does seem like V has been moving him closer and closer to critical parts of the game. Maybe his immediate future (as in 2013) will be to become Mr 8th inning set up guy. It would be pretty neat for the Sox to have a guy that they could depend on in that role again. At the very least it would seem that Tazawa could be Mr 7th inning. Although at this stage of the game, he might be the best 8th inning guy they would have. There is always the chance that they could split up the 7th inning assignment based on who was coming to the plate for the opponent.

Please someone more familiar with the area correct me if I am wrong but isn't one of the problems for baseball in DC the combination of the Redskins owning the place and the near proximity of so many other baseball teams that lay claim to some segment of the fan base for baseball? Interesting though that this year, even the O's have had trouble drawing even having a great season. So given that is this more an issue of pro football really sort of dominating the local sports scene leaving the leftovers for baseball? I am just grabbing at straws here hoping to draw out a comment from someone more familiar with the area.

Ciriaco is an interesting case. He is really a very good fielder but since he has been moved around quite a bit it seems that he is not quite solid enough in any one spot while maybe being one of the best multi-position, utility infielders anybody ever heard of. Very rare for a guy to look totally competent for a few games at least at three infield positions. Ciriaco is a little weak at 3rd but can look very comfortable for short stints at 2nd and SS and can play 3rd as well. As for his hitting, it would just be hard to trust him up in the lineup. He does not walk at all, prone to K and prone to chase pitches that don't even begin to look like they are going to be strikes. I would think he would be a terrific bottom of the order hitter, batting 7th or 8th, maybe 9th, capable of stinging the opposition and having enough speed to allow the Manager to turn him loose. You can already see what happens with speed guys at the top of the order when the Manager believes he has a heavy hitting lineup. The speed guys basically stay pinned to their bases waiting for the heavy hitters to drive them around. If the Sox had a really strong lineup I would love to see him bat 8th and play SS possibly platooning at SS in 2013. If he were to platoon at SS he would also be a utility infielder for the Sox. I could also see the Sox giving him the SS position for 2013 if the alternative were Aviles. Unfortunately I think Iggy is going to get passed over. I have thought that all year as much as I hate to see it happen because I really like him. Iggy really needed to step up and show that he could be the guy for 2013 and that has just not happened. By the time 2014 rolls around, then the Sox may not be able to wait longer and Iggy might be traded at that point.

Problem is that the next SS in the Sox system is barking right up Iggy's butt right now and threatening to pass him by. So patience may just not be in the cards for Iggy. Even before this year started I have said all along that Iggy will not see meaningful time in a Red Sox uniform and I really like the guy. I think he will be traded.

Wow, they go 1-5 and that turns into an 11,000 "fan" turnout tonight!!!! Talk about an area not supporting a baseball team.....I would tend to agree with Remy on this one. If they can be in the thick of a race and just stumble on a road trip and cause an empty house, I would say they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. We have often talked about the Rays simply not really having a fan base....I would be surprised if they are not forced to do something..like move. To be honest looking at the place now, 11,000 must be the gate and at least half of those most have left already. Don't know why. Not like they were going to have any traffic facing them on the way out.

Nice to see Ells hit one out but he got absolutely all of that on the fat part of the bat...as perfectly hit as you are ever going to see.

Rizzo is like the icing on the cake for the worst sequence of bad FO moves I can remember in a long loooooong time...from Beckett's extension through the Crawford signing the Sox and Theo established a record of big money signing ineptitude that may not be duplicated unless DeLaRosa turns out to be the real deal....in which case, LA might make a run at that title.

Scorers pondering whether or not to charge the first E-0 in baseball history making the Rays run unearned since V screwed up by not putting on the shift for Scott.

Geez if anything Molina actually looks bigger

Nice V...that hunch turns into a Rays run. This season is hardly V's fault but I am not going to shed any tears when genius V is sent packing.

This must be more of genius V playing one of his hunches. Nobody on is exactly when you can put the shift on a player that you shift for. So why no shift for Scott? Is it that overpowering Cook FB that prevented V from putting the shift on? Seems like he just gave Scott that hit.

Need I say more?

Lavs looking like he is going to s*** out another lousy at bat

It was a pop gun offense with Agons and Crawford. Now we have more of a poop gun offense. Each guy comes up to the batters box, splatters some diarrhea and heads back to the dugout.

Games played in the "echo-dome" often yield this kind of excitement regardless of standings or anything else.

Iggy is playing himself out of consideration at SS for the Red Sox. That does not excuse V for what was a stupid move. More V being V I believe. Regardless of whether Iggy has a future with the Sox he is a Sox property at this point and screwing with a Sox property won't endear V to ownership. I suspect V knows he is done after this year. Although if he keeps this s*** up, I would not be surprised to see them wait till the last week of the season and then can him....just to make the point because V does not belong here either.

Well if DeLaRosa is supposed to be able to pitch right from the start of the 2013 season, I really question the sanity of the LA FO. Every expert you hear on the topic strongly suggests that the Sox would have taken the salary dump without getting anybody back and I agree with that. Without question, the Sox asked for the guys they got back and got them. Had LA said no deal or counter offered lower level prospects, the Sox would have had no choice but to have taken that deal. At some point you have to believe that LA knows more about their people than anybody else. Never mind Magic Johnson. He is a figurehead that has nothing to do with baseball ops or anything else for that matter other than being a pretty face to put out there. If LA could have gotten out of this deal without giving up anybody and in the end gave up a starting pitcher that will be ready to go at the start of the 2013 season, they are either totally nuts or know something about DeLaRosa that you would only know from being on the inside. Hence I am suggesting that he won't be ready for the start of the 2013 season but we shall see. If he pitches his way past Lackey with all the incentives the Sox have for putting Lackey in the 2013 rotation, who cares. However I remain skeptical at this point.