Baseball

The Tampa Bay Rays won their seventh in a row by defeating the Boston Red Sox 8-2 on Monday afternoon at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have now lost six of their last seven, which includes this four game sweep by the Rays.

Red Sox starting pitcher John Lackey had his first rough outing in a Boston uniform. He went just 3.1 innings, allowing eight runs, nine hits, and one walk, while throwing a total of 79 pitches. Lackey struck out only one batter, which occurred in the third inning.

What I’m Reading

• Id’ like to give the Brewers some words of advice, but the sign says it all: “Sign Prince and they will come” .

While the season may only be a little over two weeks old, some believe that this move was already overdue.

Davis batted .480 with three home runs and 10 runs batted in in 25 at bats during spring training.

Today we check in with the Rays' minor league affiliates and see what they’ve done to this point in the season. After only 10 games, we've seen one player called up from Durham (catcher John Jaso) and there already seems to be at least one other player that could play his way onto the big league team. We'll take a look at each affiliate and focus on the highlights and lowlights of the early-going.

Durham Bulls (AAA)

The New York Mets selected Ike Davis with the 18th overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft.  Davis was a first baseman for Arizona State.  Scouts loved Davis' raw power and so did the Mets.

Big things were expected from this kid.  Despite Davis' high expectations he struggled mightily in his first year for the Mets.  He played with the Brooklyn Cyclones and couldn't manage to hit one home run.

Get ready for things to turn around Mets Fans!

The chosen one, Ike Davis, will finally be rejoining the Mets tonight when they take on the Chicago Cubs, tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Citi Field.

So...what should we expect from Davis’ promotion?

Well, clearly the Mets will respond to Davis’ presence in the dugout, and score 14 runs on 22 hits to topple the lowly Cubs.

Boston has long since had a reputation for jumping the gun when it comes to burying its sports teams. Historically speaking, patience in the Hub has been anything but a virtue.

So when the media vultures starting circling David Ortiz after exactly two games this spring, I was quick to defend the veteran slugger, asking for everyone to hold their horses before rioting in the streets.

But now? Hit the panic button. This team's in trouble.

For every Phil Mickelson Masters moment that fuels our optimism and confirms that the sporting fates have a firm sense of morality, there are at least as many examples of the contrary. Episodes where Lady Luck jilts the White Knight, and instead shacks up with the leather-clad Lothario that plays by nobody's rules.

Not even his own.

(Bonus points if you recognize that bit of hybrid pilferage).

Case in point of this latter blight would be the San Francisco Giants' three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers that just concluded on Sunday.

If it were up to me, the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown would be filled with nothing but Yankees, but fortunately for everyone else, the process is mostly fair.

In a move that should surprise no one, Major League Baseball announced today that Ubaldo Jimenez is the player of the week for the National League.