Red Sox-Rays: Garza Flirts With Perfection

Last night’s game was exactly what the Rays needed—a response to their poor play.

The Tampa Bay Rays came ready to play and, more specifically, Matt Garza came to the park ready to deal. More on that later.

The Rays absolutely dismantled a Red Sox team that had been playing great baseball since their opening series loss to these same Rays.

There’s no reason to go with our regular postgame format because the Rays had it all clicking. Every member of the lineup contributed with at least one hit, and finally came to the plate with an idea.

Back to basics is what we were crying for, and last night’s game was as simple as "see ball, hit ball."

Nobody tried to do too much at the plate. Evan Longoria was going opposite field, Pat Burrell was ripping line drives all over, and Michel Hernandez turned in a career game (4-for-5 with a double and a home run).

The Rays collectively put a near-flawless game together, but no one was as close to perfection as Garza. It makes us incredibly giddy when we see Garza’s talent come together as he showed everyone once again why he has the best stuff on the team.

He was hitting his spots with movement and did a fantastic job mixing in his off-speed pitches. Take away Jacoby Ellsbury’s fist-job infield hit and we could very well be writing about a perfect game here.

Final line: seven-and-two-thirds innings pitched, one hit, no earned runs, one walk, 10 strikeouts.

Not bad from your No. 3 guy.

But let’s rewind a moment; we’ve seen this before. The Rays opened with a dominating win for the fifth time in the last six series.

Each time they lost the remaining games.

Tonight’s game will be the real measuring stick, especially since last night's embarrassment should compel the Red Sox to come out swinging tonight.

Can the Rays give a repeat performance and play to their potential, or will the Devil Rays show up again?

Andy Sonnanstine is in a big spot tonight as he takes on Justin Masterson—possessor of perhaps the best two-seam fastball in the league. Can the hitters continue with their simple plate approaches and keep driving the ball?

I think we’re going to find out a lot about this team tonight. They haven’t won two games in a row since the opening series in Boston, so what better time to start playing consistent baseball then now against that same ball club?

Are we going to witness the continuing of a trend tonight or a climb out of the cellar? A lot of questions should be answered tonight.