Ribbie Reporter -- Anatomy of a meltdown

A convenient arrangement

Apparently the Red Sox and Devil Rays have worked out some sort of secret deal to lose every road game against each other. The Sox are 6-0 vs. the Rays at Fenway, and Wednesday night the Rays attempted to go 6-0 in Tampa agaomst the Sox. I would argue that this is a gentlemen's agreement, but the two teams have brawled annually for each of the last few years (including up at Fenway last time they met) so I don't think gentlemanly is really the word we're looking for.
The highly touted matchup between Dice-K and Scott Kazmir didn't live up to the billing, as both pitchers only lasted five innings. Dice-K only gave up two hits but did walk five, though only one run scored. When the bullpens took over, it was 4-1 in Boston's favor.
Then, in the Bottom of the 7th, things got interesting.

The first sign that things were amiss came when light-hitting shortstop Jason Bartlett doubled to right on a 3-2 pitch from Hideki Okajima. Then he stole third and scored on an infield single. That wal followed by another single. That brought on Craig Hansen, who promptly walked the bases loaded and then walked in a run to make it 4-3. Next up came Evan Longoria, who laced a double to the wall in leftcenter and put the Rays up one. After two outs and a walk, Bartlett came up again and completed the damage with an RBI single.

Halfway through the season, the Rays have the best record in the big leagues. They're of great interest to teams like the Royals who hope to one day imitate them. Longoria has 15 homers and 47 RBIs, and is exactly 11 months older than me (meaning he's 22). Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson and Kazmir -- three of the Rays starting pitchers -- are 24. Andy Sonnistaine (who? you and I both ask) is 25 and has a 9-3 record, though his 4.60 ERA shows that he's not quite as good as his win total suggests. And James Shields, the old man of the rotation, is only 27 and has a 3.70 ERA. Yikes, these guys are good and could be good for a long time. Other than Kazmir's $3.75 million salary and Shields's $1 million, the other three are all making close to the MLB minimum.

A replay shows too much
In the top of the 9th with the Sox mounting a comeback, Kevin Youkilis absolutely clobbered a ball that was finally caught at the track by a sprinting B.J. Upton. A replay showed Youk racing around first and -- upon seeing the ball land in Upton's glove -- quite clearly let out a string of four letter words... the replay was so good that we could even tell exactly which four letter word he used. MLB should be careful or they'll have the FCC on their case for showing people mouthing dirty words.

What was he thinking?
Youk's sac fly brought in Manny Ramirez and made it a 7-6 game. After Jason Varitek fouled a pitch off, Mike Lowell incredibly decided to try and steal second. Not only was he out, he was out by about 17.5 steps. Don Zimmer would have been closer to 2nd then Lowell. Varitek struck out two pitches later to end the game and preserve the sweep. If someone can explain why Lowell was stealing, please let us know.

Next up
They Royals head down for a four game set with Tampa Bay. During the last few weeks the Royals have lost 12 straight, then won 11 of the next 12 before going 1-2 against both the Cards and Orioles. What a schitzo team we are. Stay tuned for more psycho analysis.