Dragnet Thunderdome: Sox at Rays

Some interesting conceptual thoughts as we await the inevitable lack of offense now that we know Senor Manuel Ramirez is taking another long holiday …

Josh Beckett may need to dial up his high school heat to mow through another win tonight.

Can you imagine what you would have done if someone told you a month ago that the Yankees would be within two games of the Sox, and that the Sox would need key contributions from Eric Hinske to find a way to beat the Devil Rays? I’ll bet you would have laughed. We would have, too. Now, we want to cry. All part of being a Boston fan, right?

Still, things should be good tonight. Should be. And there have been a lot of disappointing shoulds in the past couple of weeks. With Josh Beckett on the mound looking for win No. 20, the Sox should be dialed in on getting just enough offense at the Trop to get a win. It’ll be interesting to see if the anemic, injury-riddled offense can do that minus Manny, Kevin Youkilis, Coco Crisp and hell, any power outside of Big Papi and the indefatiguable Mike Lowell.

Incidentally, there’s an equally shocking response to another offensive Sox question: What would you have said if told that the two most consistent Sox hitters over the course of the season would be Dustin Pedroia and Lowell? It’s truly amazing, isn’t it? Can Lowell’s role be overemphasized? And can Pedroia’s amazing season be played up enough? I’m not sure it can. The Mighty Mite has gone from being a short-term survivor to an almost sure-fire rookie of the year. And Lowell - worth noting that it’s a monster contract year for him, isn’t it - has been nothing short of spectacular. If he’s not the second best third baseman in the AL, well, whoever’s compiling the list is kidding him or herself.

Still, that just reframes tonight’s question, doesn’t it? Now it reads, “Can Lowell, Pedroia, Papi and maybe Jacoby Ellsbury do enough to get past a suddenly viable Tampa Bay lineup? And Scott Kazmir?”

The answer had better be yes.

– Cameron Smith