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The Red Sox and Rays wrapped up a three game series in Boston today. Tampa hit three home runs off of Daisuke Matsuzaka, one in each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4thinnings. A two run shot coupled with two solo shots turned out to be all the Rays needed offensively, winning 4-3.

Matt Garza pitched well for the Rays, going seven innings while giving up just one run on an RBI triple for Jason Bay. He exited with the lead, which the bullpen held in the final two innings.

The Rays entered the bottom of the 8th with a three run lead before a two out RBI double by Mike Lowell brought the Sox within two runs. In the 9th Jason Varitek got his second home run (and hit) of the season that just cleared the bullpen wall and Ben Zobrist’s glove. After a Jacoby Ellsbury flyout and a nice pick and throw of a Dustin Pedroia line drive, David Ortiz drew a walk, putting the tying run on board. Kevin Youkillis then popped out to former Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler in center to end the game.

The Sox head west for two three-game series against the Angels and Athletics starting tomorrow. Tim Wakefield will get the ball for the first time this year and George Kottares will get his first start of the season. Jered Weaver gets the ball for Anaheim.

With their young veteran Scott Kazmir on the mound, the Rays looked like AL Champions against the Red Sox. Jon Lester went only five innings giving up eight hits and five runs. The ‘pen gave up two more as the Sox fell to .500 on the year after a 7-2 loss.

Scott Kazmir pitched well for Tampa going six innings giving up just five hits and one run while walking three and striking out four. The Rays bullpen held the lead despite JP Howell giving the Red Sox a great chance before Grant Balfour got out of the jam in the 8th and hanging on in the 9th for the save.

At the plate Jason Bartlett and Carl Crawford both had three hits and an RBI each while Carlos Pena hit a two-run home run to cap a 4-run 5th for Tampa that put the Rays in front. Former Ray Rocco Baldelli went 1 for 4 in his Red Sox debut. Kevin Youkillis was the only member of the Boston lineup with more than one hit, going 3 for 4 with an RBI.

Home Plate umpire Bob Davidson had a very wide strike zone tonight. It usually is not that big of a deal, but the comments on redsox.com’s recap are putting the blame for the loss on him. Despite not being very pleased with his strike zone, I am not about to say the loss was his fault. The only reason it seemed like he was favoring the Rays was because they caught on to it quickly, something the Sox failed to do. They realized that if they threw to the outside corner they would get an easy strike, while the Red Sox didn’t pitch accordingly. But in better news, the Yankees are now 0-2 and in last place, a position they usually find themselves in early in the year before they begin a tear. Despite this, we can’t take anything for granted.

The rubber match between the clubs is set for 1:35 later today. Matt Garza squares off against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Both teams look to gain ground on the first place Blue Jays and Orioles (not quite as strange as saying the same about Tampa a year ago, yet still very odd)

A rainout pushed opening day back to Tuesday, but it couldn’t stop the Red Sox as they beat the Rays 5-3.

Josh Beckett pitched seven innings of 2-hit baseball, allowing just one run. He also set down ten Rays by Way-of-the-K. Despite two walks in the 8th that turned into runs by Okajima, Justin Masterson and Jonathan Papelbon shut down the Rays for the rest of the ballgame.

Dustin Pedroia got the offense off on the right foot in the 1st by pulling a knee-high pitch into the Monster seats in left. The Red Sox would get the bases loaded later in the inning but they failed to score. Tampa Bay would tie it in the 3rd but the Sox would strike for three runs in the bottom of that inning and led the rest of the way. Jason Varitek also added a solo shot in the 6th to make it 5-1.

Despite having regular season baseball to watch on Monday, it just wasn’t the

Sen. Kennedy, a lifelong Sox fan threw out the first pitch to Jim Rice.

 same without the Red Sox. Management had a great day planned for the game. Sen. Ted Kennedy threw out the first pitch to Hall of Famer Jim Rice, Johnny Pesky declared “play ball”, and the Red Sox entered the field from the stands. NESN even had a new theme and opening for the 2009 season. The players’ entrance was a little cheesy, but Kennedy’s pitch was very inspirational, despite Rice catching the it from only a few feet away.

The Sox and Rays go at it again tonight at 7:10. A pair of lefties, Jon Lester and Scott Kazmir take the mound for their respective ballclubs. Lester is 4-0 lifetime against Tampa but he was 0-2 in the playoffs last year. Kazmir is 6-7 against the Red Sox and 4-4 at Fenway Park. Former Ray and Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli is expected to be in the starting lineup, most likely replacing JD Drew,  to get a right handed hitter in against the southpaw Kamir.

It looks like Red Sox Nation has to wait one more day. The pouring rain (and a thunder clap I just heard) has washed out the Sox-Rays season opener. I always thought the Red Sox owners were geniuses but not psychics. They had an off-day scheduled for tomorrow in case rain did indeed fall, and the game is now slated for 4:05 on that day. Now I’m stuck watching (and being tortured by) the Indians and Rangers playing in a warm, sunny afternoon game that all baseball fans know and love.

The decision to postpone the game came just after 10 a.m. despite clear skies at the time. The Red Sox took advantage of the sun to take some BP and infield drills after the announcement was made public. Beckett and Shields will throw tomorrow.

The Sox and Rays aren’t the only ones to lose their Opening Day games, as the White Sox and Royals are also postponed due to what I’m hearing as snow.

Our fans look forward to this unofficial Red Sox Nation holiday each year, and we want to make sure that they are able to enjoy the full experience including both the special pregame ceremonies and a full nine innings of play,” Owner Larry Lucchino said. “We reserved an alternate rain date for tomorrow for just such adverse circumstances as present themselves today.”

What foresight by the Sox.

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.