The credentials of Matt Garza as a Red Sox killer were established in 2008, when the pitcher -- in his first year after being acquired in a trade from the Twins -- outpitched Jon Lester in Games 3 and 7 of the American League Championship Series to propel Tampa Bay to the World Series, garnering ALCS MVP honors in the process.

But Garza's excellence against the Sox was on display plenty of times outside of the ALCS. In the regular season, he's made 18 starts against the Sox, forging a 7-4 record and 3.83 ERA against Boston. Garza was not just outstanding against the Sox; he was also a constant thorn in their side, seemingly lining up to pitch against Boston in every series between the Rays and Sox.

Since the beginning of the 2006 season, Garza is tied with Roy Halladay for the most wins by any pitcher against the Sox. He is tied with former teammate Scott Kazmir for the second most starts against Boston (one behind Halladay , who has made 19 starts against the Sox). Over the last five years, only Halladay (131 2/3 innings) has thrown more than Garza's 110 1/3 innings against Boston.

Garza clearly belongs in a conversation about the foremost Red Sox-killing pitchers. So who else belongs in the conversation?

We'll limit the conversations to pitchers with at least five starts against the Sox in the last five years, so C.J. Wilson -- whose 1.44 ERA against the Sox since the start of the 2006 season, but who has made only three starts (and 11 relief appearances) against Boston -- is omitted. But, for what it's worth, Wilson, Jason Frasor of the Blue Jays (2.43 ERA in 33 1/3 innings, all in relief) and inimitable Yankees closer Mariano Rivera (3.23 ERA in 39 innings) are the only three pitchers with sub-4.00 ERAs with fewer than five starts and more than 30 innings against the Sox since the start of the 2006 season.

As for starters, there are 53 who have averaged at least one start per season against the Sox over the last five years. Of those, 16 have sub-4.00 ERAs; Garza ranks 15th in ERA among them. However, he is one of just two pitchers to have a sub-4.00 ERA against the Sox with at least nine starts. The other? CC Sabathia, who has a 5-2 record and 2.63 ERA in 10 starts against Boston since the start of the 2006 season.

Here's a look at the other pitchers with a sub-4.00 ERA against the Sox in at least five starts over the last five years, in order of ERA:

Brian Matusz: 2-0, 2.43 ERA, five starts. This one doesn't bode terribly well for the Sox, since Matusz just completed his rookie campaign for the Orioles, and looms as a tough divisional foe for years to come. He was dazzling against the Sox, and proved particularly confounding to J.D. Drew and David Ortiz (a combined 0-for-14 with 12 punchouts).

Brett Anderson: 3-1, 2.61 ERA, five starts. Perhaps the Sox will be able to learn some secrets to solving the riddle of the dominant young left-hander now that former A's pitching coach Curt Young is on their side. Certainly, the Sox can use any help they can get against him.

Sabathia: Sabathia is 5-2 with a 2.63 ERA against the Sox since the start of the 2006 season; eight of those turns have come since he joined the Yankees after the 2008 season. He's 4-1 with a 3.04 ERA against Boston since taking up residence in the Bronx.

Jeremy Bonderman: 2-1, 2.80 ERA, five starts (six games). With reports that the Yankees have expressed some interest in the 28-year-old free agent, Bonderman's success against the Sox certainly won't work against him.

Felix Hernandez: 4-1, 2.91 ERA, eight starts. His national coming-out party came when he threw a one-hit shutout against the Sox in 2007, but King Felix has been consistently dominant against the Sox, who are grateful that he's not in their division.

Gustavo Chacin: 5-0, 2.93 ERA, five starts. The Sox managed to drive Chacin from his outings early (he averaged less than 5 2/3 innings per start in these outings), but simply couldn't score against him in 2006-07, despite collecting more walks (12) than strikeouts (9) against the lefty. Chacin fell off the map in 2008 and 2009, but resurfaced as a left-handed reliever for the Astros last year.

Erik Bedard: 4-2, 3.09 ERA, eight starts. It's easy to forget how dominant Bedard was, but health woes have made the left-hander a forgotten man. Seattle's decision to trade for him in a five-player package headlined by outfielder Adam Jones (and that also included pitchers Chris Tillman and George Sherrill) has been an unmitigated disaster.

Brad Bergesen: 2-3, 3.32, six starts. The Orioles right-hander has struck out just 4.5 batters per nine innings in his career, but he's punched out 6.2 Sox per nine innings in his outings against them. Even so, as a right-hander without strikeout stuff, he is arguably the most surprising pitcher on this list.

David Price: 3-2, 3.38 ERA, five starts. Even when the Rays stunk, Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon would talk about how much he liked the fact that young pitchers like Kazmir and James Shields were learning not to fear teams like the Sox and Yankees. That has continued with Garza and now Price, the latter of whom looms as a likely source of frustration to the Sox for years to come.

Dan Haren: 2-3, 3.41 ERA, six starts. The Sox' first exposure to Haren came in the 2004 World Series, when he turned in 4 2/3 shutout innings against them. Nearly every subsequent start he's made against Boston has ratified the initial impression of his excellence.

Gavin Floyd: 4-0, 3.53 ERA, five starts. He is a product of Mount St. Joseph's HS in Saverna Park, Md. -- the same institution that produced Mark Teixeira. The White Sox' Floyd joins Chacin and Matusz as the only pitchers with at least five starts against the Sox in the last five years who hasn't suffered a loss against Boston.

Ervin Santana: 1-1, 3.72, six starts. Santana's performance against the Sox is all the more impressive given that five of his six starts have been at Fenway. Among the 16 pitches to make five or more starts against the Sox at Fenway in the last five years, his 3.45 ERA is the best.

Javier Vazquez: 2-5, 3.73, six starts (eight games). Most people will think of Vazquez as the pitcher who has disappointed the Yankees twice. But a little-known fact about the right-hander: He has the highest strikeout rate (10.8 strikeouts per nine innings) is the highest by any pitcher with at least 30 innings against the Sox since 2006, mostly while with the White Sox and Braves.

Jesse Litsch: 4-2, 3.83, seven starts. Litsch fits into the mold of Bergesen: A right-hander with fringy stuff who has still managed to handcuff the Sox. But he's made just one start against Boston in the last two years while dealing with an array of injuries. Coming off of surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip, he's expected to compete for a job at the back end of the Blue Jays rotation this spring.

Garza: 7-4, 3.83, 18 starts (19 games). The Sox won't be too sad that he's no longer in the division, though they could face him when the Cubs come to Fenway in interleague play this year.

Justin Verlander: 2-2, 3.89, five starts. The Tigers ace has solid but not spectacular strikeout numbers (7.8 per nine innings) against the Sox, but one of the keys to his effectiveness against Boston has been an ability to keep the ball in the park. He has allowed 0.78 homers per nine innings against the Sox over the last five years, the fourth lowest rate among pitchers with at least five starts against Boston in that span. (Bedard is first with 0.19 homers per nine innings allowed; he is followed by Mark Buehrle at 0.61, Andy Pettitte at 0.62 and Verlander. C.J. Wilson, incidentally, has not allowed a homer in his 31 1/3 innings against the Sox.)