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Rays Take Series, Beat Dice-K

Apparently, the Rays are better than the rest of the world. After Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-1) shut down the U.S. lineup in his last professional start, he had trouble containing the Rays Thursday afternoon at Fenway, eventually taking the loss in a 4-3 Rays win.

Matt Garza picked up right where he left off in Game 7 of the ALCS, dazzling the Red Sox over seven strong innings. He allowed just one run on four hits and three walks to go with five strikeouts. He has great stuff, and it seems he now officially owns the Red Sox.

Sox Stud of the Game

Kevin Youkilis, 1B: Youk continued his absurdly hot pace, going 3-4 out of the cleanup spot with a walk, double, and two runs scored. He now is hitting .667 in three games this year. No one else had more than one hit.

Jason Varitek, C: Tek deserves mention here, even though I usually only have one Stud. He homered for the second time in three games, this time in the ninth off Troy Percival. Can you believe Varitek has two HRs???

Sox Dud of the Game

Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP: Dice-K has certainly had better starts as a member of the Red Sox. He finished with four runs allowed on nine hits and three HRs in 5.1 innings pitched. He had five strikeouts, but that’s only icing on a pile of crap for fantasy owners. In real life, it just didn’t get the job done.

Game Notes

• Ramon Ramirez had 1.2 more shutout innings in his second appearance for the Sox.
• After this three-game series, only two Sox players have batting averages over .250: Youk (.667) and Jason Bay (.300).

About KC Downey

KC is the "head coach" of the Sports of Boston, LLC blog network. Follow him on Twitter: @kc_downey

Tags: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jason Bay, Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis, Matt Garza, Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays