Tim Wakefield got hammered, and the Red Sox scored just one run before the game was completely out of reach, as the Rays beat Boston 13-4 to take a 3-1 series lead. The Red Sox can send their three best pitchers to the mound over the next three games, but they have a very deep hole to climb out of. The Red Sox have been here before, kind of. 2004 was a once in a lifetime thing, and that was a completely different team. They were down 3-1 to the Indians last year, but that was a much more favorable situation, as they had a healthy Josh Beckett going in Game 5, and then returned home for the final two games. This year, they've got Daisuke Matsuzaka -- who is good, but walks far too many guys, doesn't go deep enough into games, and is far inferior to the '07 version of Beckett -- going in the fifth game, and then would potentially head back to Tampa for the last two games.
That being said, it's not impossible. Thursday night's matchup favors Boston, and then they'll have to hope Jon Lester shakes off his Game 3 performance and returns to his normal self in the sixth game. Game 7 will be the toughest, as they really don't know what they'll get from Beckett at this point. Taken by themselves, no single game is too daunting a task, but winning all three will be quite a challenge.
