Universe Rights Itself, Soon Should Be Completely Normal

Like in the Michael Douglas film Falling Down, Joe Maddon is wearing a short-sleeved dress shirt and demanding breakfast at McDonald's, even though its past 11:30. Sorry Joe. We're back where we were in July 24; the Red Sox and Rays, tied for first in the East. Only this time Boston clearly has momentum, and there's only two weeks left. With just 12 games to go for Boston and 14 for the Rays, the two are in a dead heat — hmm, so strange to have a close race in Florida — after Monday's 13-5 win by Boston. The majority of the 29,772 fans at Tropicana of course were Sox fans, prompting the Rays radio announcers to call the whole thing a "nightmare." Fun facts: • Scott Kazmir, the Rays ace, started the game with nine straight balls. • Kazmir gave up four homers and the Sox had six overall; the most in one game since 2003. • Jonathan Papelbon is not a machine, dammit! Now get away from his locker! • With one more win and one more loss than Tampa, Boston is two percentage points behind; .595 to .593. All that changes tonight when Josh Beckett (12-9) goes against Andy Sonnenstine (13-7). • Jason Bay's homer in the fourth landed in the C-ring catwalk above center field and stuck there. For all we know the ball is still there. Boston really needed something to bump this out of the news cycle. • Elsewhere in Epic Collapse. For all who said this could never happen two years straight, sorry. Washington beat the Mets 7-2 on Monday, the Mets' lead in the NL East slipping to just a half-game on the Phillies, who were idle. New York has 13 games left, Philadelphia 12.