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Red Sox see Rays in playoff hunt all season

By Joe Smith, Times Staff Writer
In print: Tuesday, July 1, 2008

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ST. PETERSBURG — Red Sox veteran third baseman Mike Lowell said after Monday's thriller that both teams hope to shift the focus of the rivalry from the brawl to baseball.

And if he wasn't impressed before with a Tampa Bay team that's made a remarkable turnaround from worst to first, Lowell was when he left the Trop after the Rays' 5-4 win.

Lowell is one of several Red Sox who believe this series won't be the last important meeting between the teams.

"I'd be surprised if they're not in the hunt the whole way," Lowell said. "They've got good pitching. Not to take away from their offense, but without pitching, you can't slug every night. Their pitching keeps them in the game. They have a couple guys in the bullpen that are doing a really nice job."

The Red Sox saw that Monday night, with Rays starter James Shields giving up just two runs in 61/3 innings. Shields "set the tone," said reliever J.P. Howell, who got the save.

"He has good stuff. He always does," Lowell said of Shields.

"It's no secret. They're not doing this with smoke and mirrors. They're a talented group, and I think a lot of times when you have a lot of young guys, you don't know how to measure (them), because there's no track record. I think the talent's there, and you've got to respect that."

While the Rays rolled into the series on an all-time high, the Red Sox limped in, having lost two straight and forced to spend most of Monday's pregame downplaying lingering controversies in the clubhouse. Manny Ramirez squashed his reported shoving of longtime traveling secretary Jack McCormick ("Everything's fine"), and manager Terry Francona stayed mum on a Boston Herald report that the club added security because of a mailed threat to his players.

All along, they talked about how this is far from a regular midsummer trip to the Trop. "Usually, it's 'Hey, the Red Sox are in town,' " Boston's Sean Casey said. "Now … they're in first place and we're coming in trying to get them. The stakes are higher this time.''

Said Lowell: "If both teams are playing very good baseball, both teams are going to make the playoffs."

Joe Smith can be reached at joesmith@sptimes.com.