» Bay

A depleted Red Sox team came into Sunday afternoon’s game vs Tampa at just 3-6 in Grapefruit League play.

A team missing stars Youkilis, Pedroia (USA) Bay (Canada) Ortiz (Dominican) and Matsuzaka (Japan) to the World Baseball Classic has been crushed 15-7 and 12-4 previously against the Rays. Today was a much different story though, as they struck early and often en route to an 8-2 victory.

Julio Lugo helped his cause by going 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs and a walk and Justin Masterson pitched three scoreless innings. Jonathan Papelbon gave up two hits in his inning of work but struck out the side.

It was great to see Lugo succeed, even if it was only a Spring game. I was able to catch parts of the game from a suite at TD Banknorth Garden so I couldn’t watch the whole thing, but I did watch a good chunk of the game while the Celtics were struggling. Once the C’s started making a huge run I lost interist though, so I never even glanced at the TV from the 5th inning on. As I said in an earlier post, I expect Lugo to have a better year and he certainly showed a glimpse of that today.

Jon Lester will make the start against the Pirates tomorrow against the Pirates in what may be his last game before he signs a five-year contract extension.

Does it get better than being a sports fan in Boston? No, I don’t think it does, but that’s just one blogger’s opinion.

The Bruins scored six goals each in their previous to blowouts, the Celtics play their first game with Stephon Marbury tonight, and of course, baseball is finally back after the Red Sox began Spring Training games on Wednesday.

The Red Sox are now 0-3 in Grapefruit League play, after losing to the defening AL Champions the Tampa Bay Rays 12-4. The Rays struck early, leading 10-0 in the 5th inning. The Sox then got their only four runs, one of which was knocked in by former Ray Rocco Baldelli in his first hit of the Spring.

The Red Sox have a split squad tomorrow, playing Northeastern University in the afternoon then the Cincinnati Reds in the nightcap.