Tim Wakefield deserves better. He got the loss and was technically outpiched by Tampa Bay's Matt Garza, but if you give up five hits and only one earned run, you deserve better. That's our opinion, anyway. Wake was the victim of a 3-1 loss to the scorching hot Rays, mostly due to a couple of ill-timed wild pitches.

The first TB run scored on a walk, a groundout, an error, and a wild pitch. Not exactly the '27 Yankees. The Sox tied it in the fourth when J.D. Drew sacrificed in Ellsbury, but Wake surrendered an RBI single to Dioner Navarro. The Sox blew a couple of golden opportunites, and are now 2 1/2 behind the Rays. They still lead Minnesota by 3 for the Wild Card.

With the All-Star break and the trading deadline around the corner, there's buzz that the Sox may be trying to upgrade their bullpen. Colorado's Brian Fuentes' name comes up as a short-term solution, and Baltimore's George Sherrill as someone who might stick around. Which would be more appealing if we didn't see Baltimore's bullpen 19 times a year.

Speaking of comings and goings, there's been a lot of activity from our local non-Sox teams. Willie Andrews, he of the drug charges and the waving-a-gun-at-a-lady allegations, is now an ex-Patriot. The Bruins lost goalie Alex Auld and center Glen Metropolit to free agency (Ottawa and Philly, respectively) and picked up Montreal's Michael Ryder and youngster Blake Wheeler. The Celtics introduced their new draft picks, and made offers to James Posey (which we expected) and the Clippers' Corey Maggette (kind of a surprise). Posey is now being courted by Cleveland. Don't do it, James!

Photo by Chris O'Meara/Associated Press.