Ben Zobrist News

Sean Rodriguez hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to send Tampa Bay past Boston, 4-3, in the rubber match of a three-game series from Fenway Park.

There aren't many quality catchers in baseball. There are certainly more capable pitchers around.

Small sample sizes can lead to false bravado or fear. Coming into the game tonight, Josh Beckett had been nothing short of dominant against the Rays since the team entered its contending phase.

Adrian Gonzalez was surprised and not that thrilled to come out of the game in the sixth inning last night.

There was only a pitching duel, one that was mentally scintillating on paper but ended up being even better in execution.

There have been several MLB regular position players who have started off their seasons on the right foot.

Carlos Pena and Ben Zobrist of the Rays have words with Red Sox pitching coach Bob McClure after teammate Luke Scott was hit by a pitch in the ninth inning.

Rays superstar Evan Longoria has not played a single game in May thanks to an injury on the final day of April that forced him to the disabled list.

Speed is the thing that has kept 33-year-old OF Rich Thompson 's dream of playing in the major leagues alive, and on Wednesday it helped to give life to a modest two-game Rays winning streak.

Batting out of the leadoff spot, the Rays' Carlos Pena launches a three-run homer that traveled an estimated 452 feet.

Pena currently does sport a .353 OBP, but even that is not enough to warrant throwing him into the No.

The injuries just keep raining down on the Rays. And the result is that we're seeing new face after new face.

But that is not hits divided by at-bats. That is double plays per opportunities for the Rays in the 8th inning.

Welcome back to This Week in Sun Sports, kids. As always, we'll be looking at the oddities of the Rays broadcasts from this past week.

Tim Hudson scattered four hits over 7 2-3 innings, David Ross homered and the Atlanta Braves beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 on Sunday.

The Rays acquired outfielder Rich Thompson from the Phillies on Wednesday in exchange for Minor League outfielder Kyle Hudson.

There aren't many players in baseball like Ben Zobrist . Sure, lots of players will hit roughly the same number of homers and drive in roughly the same number of runs and steal roughly the same number of bases, but few, if any, will do it with the defensive prowess of Zobrist.

THE EXPOSITION: Hey, the Red Sox have something going! Boston has won five in a row -- the fourth time already this season the Sox have either won or lost five in a row -- over Cleveland and Seattle to pull back within two of .500. The Sox are 5.5 behind Baltimore and Tampa Bay.

For the second consecutive game it was a lack of execution on defense that proved to be the Blue Jays' biggest downfall.

Bryce Harper hit his first big league home run, helping lead the Washington Nationals to an 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres on Monday night.