Garza has us feeling good about the Rays again

7-1, .254 ERA in 10 career starts that includes 2 wins in the ALCS and an MVP trophy. That's Matt Garza's line against the Boston Red Sox. Last night his grit and determination came through and helped create a role-reversal between the defending AL East Champions and the team that wants to dethrone them. For one night, the Rays took us back to 2008. For one night, the Rays made the Red Sox tough lineup look not-so-tough. For one night, the Rays showed us that when they get it together, they're tough to beat.

The Rays offense seemed to thrive off of Garza's performance. They weren't going to let his start get wasted. Everyone got in on the action, including the Greatness that is Michel Hernandez. Even as he was helping guide Garza behind the plate, Hernandez had his own career night at the plate.  The rest of the offense made sure Josh Beckett wasn't going to repeat his performance against them earlier this year.

The Rays need to keep it going tonight.  We saw a career performance from Matt Garza last night, we're going to need to see it again from Andy Sonnanstine tonight.  This win needs to be followed up.

Here's today's Round-up. As always, my thoughts are in italics.

Sliced and Diced.  Those are the words the Boston Herald used to describe Matt Garza and the Rays performance last night.  Just like the game, this article is the polar opposite of what I read yesterday morning from the Minnesota papers.  In yesterday's article, the Rays were described as listless and in this article their performance was described as overkill.

Boston.com called Garza a bulldog for the Rays.  One thing I like about Red Sox fans and Red Sox beat writers is they can appreciate when another team does something special.  Very complementary toward Garza and what he did.

St. Pete Times columnist John Romano implores Rays fans to have more faith in the plan.  I'm going to have to agree with Romano on this one.  I still believe there is nothing fundamentally wrong with this team's talent.  They're just going through a funk.  However, Romano, I'm not buying all the hype you're selling in the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers regime.

Friend of Rays Revolutionary, 10 Connects Multi-media journalist Grayson Kamm did a great piece on some of the rough spots when the Rays raised the banner against the Yankees.  When I first saw the story, I was concerned about "banner karma."  But, now that Rays took care of business, I can share this story.  Even former local TV sportscaster Dick Crippen (now Rays advisor) made an appearance in this piece.  He said, "he couldn't imagine Evan Longoria or Carlos Pena getting hurt by repelling soldiers."