So it all comes down to this, only 81 outs separate the Rays from their destiny. Is it their destiny to be in or out of the post season? How will they get there? All of that remains uncertain at the moment. One thing is certain thought: the next 81 outs will be filled with tension and I, for one, cannot wait!
Sure, the Rays played like crap Friday. Then again, so did the Sox. Forget not that the Rays also picked themselves up by the bootstraps on Saturday and Sunday, and are going into the next three games amped for what’s next. And sure, the Red Sox are getting all of the credit for the position that the Rays and Angels are in. Who cares? We know the truth…we know that we wouldn’t even be considering the underlying factors without the solid baseball that the Rays have played the last two months, especially in the month of August.
So here we go. Tonight the Rays begin playing their final three regular season games against the Yankees. Tampa Bay enters this series, trailing the Red Sox by one game in the wild-card race. On the bump for the Rays is 15 game winner James Shields. Pitching for the hated Yankees is 2-1 rookie fill in, Hector Noesi. Deja vu? Certainly. This is the same pitching match up in game one of last weeks double header, a game that found the Rays losing 4-2. But today is undoubtedly a different day.
For the Rays to force a one game playoff, the Rays will need to win one more game in their final series than the Red Sox. Marc Topkin, the Rays beat writer over at the St. Petersburg Times noted that in order for the Rays to force a one game playoff, the following scenarios must occur:
1) Rays win and Red Sox win: Lead remains 1, Rays need to win one or two and need Sox to lose at least one to force a tie.
2) Rays win and Red Sox lose: Teams are tied, Rays need to win match what Sox do to force tie, or win one more to win wild-card.
3) Rays lose and Red Sox win: Rays need to win out and need Sox to lose last two to force a tie.
Is it reasonable to assume to assume that any of the scenarios above will pan out? I don’t know. It all really depends on how well the Rays play, and how poorly the Sox play. If anything, the Rays can make things very interesting especially if they play with the focus that they played with in the month of August. Anyway, isn’t this what baseball is all about? The lineups are below. C’mon out to the Trop this week, this should be fun! As always, Go Rays!
Tampa Bay Rays (88-71)
Jennings LF
Upton CF
Longoria 3B
Zobrist 2B
Damon DH
Joyce RF
Kotchman 1B
Shoppach C
Brignac SS
Shields RHP (15-12, 2.84 ERA)
New York Yankees (97-62)
Jeter SS
Granderson CF
Cano 2B
Rodriguez DH
Posada 1B
Chavez 3B
Martin C
Nunez RF
Gardner LF
Noesi RHP (2-1, 4.14 ERA)