In the regular season, the Red Sox were 1-8 against the Angels. In the playoffs, they turned the tables and beat the Angels in the ALDS, 3 games to 1. The Sox were also 1-8 in the regular season at Tropicana Field. That didn't seem to matter in Game 1 of the ALCS, as the Red Sox beat the Rays, 2-0.

The Sox are looking forward to reversing their fortunes once again, and are on the right track. Although he got himself in a couple jams due to untimely walks, he ended up throwing 7 scoreless innings, and only allowed 4 hits. He struck out 9, and walked 4, including 3 in the first inning. He carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning, when he finally gave up 2 hits, to Carl Crawford and Cliff Floyd. He also allowed 2 hits in the 8th before manager Terry Francona called for Hideki Okajima out of the bullpen.

The Rays have been brilliant all year at manufacturing runs and taking advantage of base runners, but they weren't able to capitalize this time. The Red Sox took advantage of some timley hitting, including 3 hits by Kevin Youkilis, and a sacrifice fly from rookie Jed Lowrie, who also drove in the winning run in Game 4 against the Angels.

Game 2 is Saturday at 8:07 EST, again at Tropicana Field. Josh Beckett will get the start for the Red Sox against Scott Kazmir for the Rays. Both of them failed to meet expectations in their first start. Kazmir only lasted 5+ innings, and gave up 8 hits in Game 2. The Rays still won, but they are hoping for more from their ace in this one. Beckett also had a short outing, going only 5 innings. He has been bothered for the past couple months by health issue, including elbow and oblique injuries.

The Rays will need to seriously step up the offense if they're going to win Game 2. Evan Longoria is 1 for 17 in the last 4 games, after going 3-3 with 2 HR in his playoff debut. Carl Crawford is the Rays' other offensive spark plug, and he's only batting .235 in the postseason. Without those guys at the top of their game, the Rays are going to find it very difficult to win playoff games.


Make your predictions for Game 2 here. It's still very early, but so far 60% are picking the Rays. My prediction: Red Sox win Game 2, 3-1, and end up winning the series in 5 games, with the clincher at Fenway in front of the home crowd. But of course, I'm a little biased, so who knows? Go Sox!

I'll be upfront and honest with everyone, I'm rooting for the Rays, and for the next week, I promise to take as many potshots at the Red Sox as humanly possible.

Why, you ask? It's simple, the Rays represent the best in baseball, while the Red Sox represent everything that's wrong with the game. It hasn't always been this way. There was once a point in time when the Red Sox were a lot like the Cubs, a team you could in passing root for because of their unfortunate past. But after winning two World Series, and becoming an exact clone of the Yankees - throwing loads of money at free agents and making trades no one else can make because of financial reasons - they've lost their charm.

The Dice-K deal was the backbreaker. Paying over $50 million just to talk with a guy should have made it painfully clear to Red Sox fans that their team had become everything that they had always hated so much about the Yankees.

Meanwhile, the Rays are a scrappy bunch, filled with little-known homegrown overachievers. And on top of all this, their payroll is less than a third of the Sox's payroll. 

If you like baseball, and you like the belief that a team can achieve success independent of massive contracts and mega-trades, then you should be rooting for the Rays.

And now for tonight's game info.

The Rays took 10 out of 18 games in the regular season, but the series was as close as any in the majors. Tampa Bay took the lead in the seventh inning or later in six of their victories, and 11 of the contests were decided by three runs or less.

Tonights starters are Scott Shields for the Rays and Dice-K for the Sox.

Shields, you may remember, started that massive brawl with the Sox back in June by going after Coco Crisp. He was great against the Red Sox in St. Petersburg in the regular season, going 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA, but woeful in two starts at Fenway. He lost both, posting a 21.21 ERA in just 4 2-3 innings.

Dice-K pitched so-so against the Rays this season, going 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA. He lasted only five innings in each of his three outings, striking out 17 but walking 11.

Right now, 57% of FanIQ is going with the Rays, who were a ridiculous 57-24 at the Trop this season. 

Feel free to chat it up here or on the game page.

It was quite a week here on the blog. Lots of discussions, lots of hilarious debates, and lot of stories about stupid athletes doing stupid things. Let's get to what was especially good this week, or as I like to call it, what was somewhat passable this week.

• Pacman Jones is in trouble again. I know, I'm shocked too.
• The media has a message for Pacman: Get the hell out of town.
• Speaking of Pacman, Plaxico Burress had a bad week as well.
• Oh, and the Cowboys are whiners.
• Kimbo Slice's much anticipated fight was apparently fixed.
• Greg Oden looks like he's going to one awesome pro.
• Michael Phelps is still bringing home gold.
• Hot Olympian Leryn Franco returned to show everyone her, um, chest.
• We saw perhaps the greatest high school football comeback ever.
• Sage Rosenfels was apparently on the take this week.
• Things aren't going real well at Tennessee.
• Lord Stanley got mishandled.
• They're now suspending kid for sporting Ray-hawks.

All right everyone, enjoy the weekend. I will be around, because, as I've said before, I'm actually a robot.

In news that will utterly shock you, baseball's king of decency and humanity, Jose Canseco, has reportedly been busted at the US/Mexico border down near San Diego while attempting to bring steroids back into the country.

David Vassegh of KLAC-AM in Los Angeles reported that Canseco "was recently detained at the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego by Federal authorities for alleged possession of steroids." 

If you're wondering what in the heck Canseco is doing taking steroids, well, he's training for another boxing match. You may remember he got his butt handed to him by a former Eagles player a few months back in a celebrity boxing match.

I swear, this guy probably juices before getting off his couch to go to the can.

But here's the hilarious news, aside from the fact that Canseco could wind up in a Mexican jail. The steroid that Canseco was attempting to bring into the States? HCG, or human choronic gonadotropin. Why's that funny? It's funny because HCG is frequently used "during and after steroid cycles to maintain and restore testicular size."

Man, this guy is classic. Just when you think he can't sink any lower, he somehow finds a way to do it. Enjoy your stay in Mexico, Jose.

Canseco detained at Mexican border for steroids [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

No usual Nightly Wrap up today, since you'll get that in best of the week. Instead, here's a look at what's on this weekend.

We've got huge college football matchups, playoff baseball, the first outdoor NBA game, and of course the NFL. I suggest watching Texas/Oklahoma (of course), LSU/Florida, Oklahoma St./Mizzou, all the MLB playoff games, and the first ever outdoor NBA game. That's right, Steve Nash, Shaq and Co. will be playing a preseason game against the Nuggets outdoors. As you can guess, it's in Phoenix, where it's still 134 degrees on a daily basis.

FRIDAY

8pm - ESPN – NCAA Football: Louisville at Memphis
8pm - ESPN2 - NASCAR: Dollar General 300
8:30pm - TBS – ALCS Game 1: Red Sox at Rays

SATURDAY

12pm - ABC – NCAA Football: #1 Oklahoma vs. #5 Texas
12:30pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Football: Colorado at #16 Kansas
3:30pm - CBS – NCAA Football: Tennessee at #10 Georgia
3:30pm - ABC OR ESPN – NCAA Football: Arizona State at #8 USC OR Notre Dame at #22 North Carolina OR Purdue at #12 Ohio State
3:30pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Football: #23 Michigan St. at Northwestern
7:30pm - NASCAR: Bank Of America 500
8pm - CBS – NCAA Football: #4 LSU at #11 Florida
8pm - ESPN – NCAA Football: #6 Penn State at Wisconsin
8pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Football: #17 Oklahoma St. at #3 Missouri
8pm - TBS - ALCS Game 2: Red Sox at Rays
10pm - TNT – NBA: Nuggets at Suns

SUNDAY

1pm - CBS - NFL - Check your local listings.
1pm - Fox - NFL - Check the map.
4pm - Fox - NFL - Map
8pm - Fox - NLCS Game 3: Phillies at Dodgers
8:15pm - NBC – NFL: Patriots at Chargers