ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- If the Tampa Bay Rays were making a statement Thursday night, as their manager suggested, it came through as loudly as the thunder outside Tropicana Field. We're listening now. And if the Boston Red Sox are smart, they are, too.
When the Red Sox came here to open their final series before the All-Star break, they hadn't seen the Rays since Mother's Day in Fenway Park. In the eight weeks that have elapsed, the American League East has been widely presumed to be a two-team race, with the Red Sox and New York Yankees destined to duke it out in August and September, just like the good old days of 2003 and 2004.