Moribund

I think the title of this post very accurately describes the Red Sox offense right now. They seemed to sleepwalk through a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay last night. Taking nothing away from Matt Garza, who pitched a fine game for the Rays, and deserved to win. But Tim Wakefield also deserved to win, but just got no support. Tampa Bay has won the series, and go for the sweep tonight. They now have the best record in baseball, and lead the Red Sox by 2 1/2 games.

The Sox gave away a run on no hits in the first, as Alex Cora booted what should have been the final out of the inning, and on the next play, a wild pitch allowed a run to score from third.

They seemed to have few opportunities to score many runs, and seemed to foul out an extraordinary number of times last night. The best shot to get back in the game was the eighth, when they loaded the bases with two outs, but Mike Lowell grounded out to end the inning.

Right now, Manny Ramirez seems to be the biggest offender at the plate, as he is 10 for his last 54. The Red Sox really need to get the bats going. They have scored just five runs in the last three games and have lost the last four. It's a lousy time to go into a slump, as they head for the Bronx after tonight's game.

But the Yankees are hardly ripping the cover off the ball, having lost their last three straight.