Sox Lose Again

The Sox squandered two leads last night to fall to the D Rays 7-6. Contreras looked as if he might have turned the corner early in the game, when after giving up an RBI double to Singleton with no outs, he stranded runners at second and third. I was proved wrong when in the 4th with the Sox ahead 4-1, Jose walked the first two batters, and then on the first pitch to Hall gave up a 3 run homer to left.
The Sox would grab another lead to blow though, with one run coming on a beautiful squeeze bunt by Iguchi scoring Crede. With the Sox leading 6-4, Vizciano left a few to many hanging sliders over the plate and surrendered 2 more runs, tying the game once again. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Shingo was called in to try and force extra innings. Instead, he gave up a walk off homer to Cantu. Takatsu did a solid job for us last season....if it weren't for him we would have had to live with Koch the whole year. This year is not last year however, and I'm tired of watching him give away games. His location is way off, and opponents have not been chasing his junk and are sitting on his BP fastball, and hitting it hard. With the depth we have in the pen, Shingo should not be used in any pressure situations until he regains his command, if ever. Last nights game reminded me of a July 4th game we played in Tampa a couple years ago, where Koch blew the save by surrendering a walk off 2 or 3 run homer.
Sox pitching walked 9, that's right, 9 batters and allowed 19 baserunners in this contest, yet still had an opportunity to win this game. Losing games like this will lead the Sox straight to another second place finish and .500 record.
We look to rebound tonight, sending El Duque and his sub 2.00 career ERA vs. the Rays and at Tropicana Field. This would seem to bode well for the Sox, but Jose's best career numbers were also against the D Rays and at Tropicana Field, and that didn't turn out all that well for the Sox.
The Sox desperately need to win this game to avoid a sweep heading into a tough stretch of upcoming series against the 1st place Orioles, Texas, the sCrUBS, and the Angels. The rest of May will be pretty ugly for the Sox if they don't get their act back together.