What just happened? Three games in a 24-hour period, and a pair of losses to the third place Rays? Ouch. Boston was tied with New York on Tuesday morning for first place in the AL East, and now find themselves a half game back due to Joe Maddon and company. Not a disaster, but that's a couple of tough series in a row. Here's five quick notes on the three game set:
1. Desmond Jennings is good: We finally get a our first real look at the man who makes B.J. Upton expendable on the Rays' roster. Jennings had a pair of at-bats in two games last year against Boston, but he clearly wasn't ready at that point. This year, he's carrying a 1.056 OPS, an is 9th in the league in fWAR (1.1) among rookies, with only 24 games played. Incidentally, Josh Reddick is fourth with a 1.6 fWAR, with Dustin Ackley leading the league at 2.3.
2. The Rays' starters were historic over the last two days: According to Jack Edwards during the post game show on NESN, this is the first time in Boston's history that they gathered three or fewer hits in three consecutive games.
3. More WAR!!!: Both David Price, and James Shields, with identical 11-10 records, find themselves in the top 10 in fWAR among American League starters. This should come as no surprise to anyone who witnessed their domination over a Boston offense which leads the world in just about every category.
4. Upton: Clearly, the Rays got the worst of the deal in the Upton brothers sweepstakes (with younger brother Justin among the leading candidates for NL MVP). But, B.J.'s blast off of John Lackey yesterday gave everyone in the vicinity horrendous flashbacks to the '08 ALCS when Upton pulled his best impression of Mr. October in knocking off the Red Sox in seven games. The Rays outfielder hit .324/.394/.786, with 4 homers and 11 RBI. Yeesh.
5. Ray Attack: Literally, there was an attack by an electric ray off the coast of Rockport over the weekend. An evil portend if I've ever witnessed one.
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