Ellsbury, Homers Help Red Sox Defeat Sonnanstine, Sliding Rays

Victor Martinez and Jacoby Ellsbury helped the Boston Red Sox defeat the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) At this same time last year—the beginning of September, the season’s final month—the Tampa Bay Rays consistently sold-out crowd was raucous and intensely intrigued by their playoff-bound team. At this time this year, when looking throughout their domed Tropicana Field, there are more empty seats than filled. Seventeen thousand, six-hundred and ninety-two showed up for the first game of their three game series against the Boston Red Sox, approximately a third of a capacity crowd. The stadium has garnered this paltry support for a while now, but there is good reason for that. Unlike last year, the magical year in which the Rays went to the World Series, the fans have little to celebrate. They entered the contest five games behind Boston, and therefore five games out of the Wild Card, while their offense and pitching have failed to rekindle the magic ...