Dragnet Stifling Humidity: Sox at Rays

And tonight, the great Boston resurrection continues?

Dice-K’s been in better moods at earlier points in the season.

Good question right? Last night the Sox got through Tampa Bay’s best starter and still escaped with a win, thanks to your future AL Cy Young winner Josh Beckett. Not only that, they also got some keen help from the team that spent the better part of the last week trash bagging them: Toronto. The Blue Jays beat the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, and they spent a full 14 innings doing so, wearing out some of the pinstripe bullpen in the process. Including Joba the Piglet.

Not a bad way to start a weekend.

Still, that extra game buffer will mean nothing if Boston blows game two tonight. The mercurial Japanese national treasure is back on the mound, and his very appearance will underscore just how unpredictable he may be for the rest of the year. Before his last start against the Yankees - a significant and strong outing eight days ago - Dice-K had five consecutive woeful starts, each looking more tired than the previous. Then last week he looked like vintage Dice, tossed either his best or second-best outing against the Yankees this season, and seemed destined for a win.

Of course, we know what happened after that.

Tonight he gets a significantly easier lineup, though it’s one he’s struggled with before. In fact, that up-and-down line graph is a true theme for the game, as Tampa starter Andy Sonnastine has gone through similar issues against the Sox this season.

So which starter shows up with his good stuff? And which lineup comes through with big hits tonight? The Sox looked like they were on a mission last night. Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury looked like MVP candidates, not rookies. Big Papi blasted a shot that was remiscent of the past three years. Mike Lowell looked like, well, Dr. Double with more power, which he’s done in leading the team throughout the second half.

Did the Sox use up their entire quota of clutch hits last night? Will Dice-K be able to overcome the stigma of traveling through international customs in a Teletubby costume? While Manny Ramirez remember that he still plays for the Sox and make a guest cameo, as if he was on a mid-90s sitcom or a new late-night MTV show hosted by Will Smith that’s a direct rip-off of Wild N’ Out?

Did that last question even make any sense? The answer to the last two questions is no. But the answers to the first two are much more significant. Now comes the time where we figure out what they are.

Or, if you’re on the other side of the pond, it’s time to watch Dice in his other role, as LaLa. Either way, enjoy.

– Cameron Smith