Let’s turn the clock back a bit — back to the middle of July when Tampa Bay was in the midst of a 21-5 stretch. The Rays waltzed into Fenway Park, in Boston, ahead of a highly anticipated battle for AL East dominance. Though the four game series was played over the course of seven days, thanks to one of Boston’s infamous rainouts that forced the Rays to return to the Red Sox’s tin-can of a facility on an off-day, Tampa Bay took three out of four from Boston.
That series came at a time when the Rays were playing some of their best baseball. They seemed untouchable — their record reflected as much. Fast forward a bit, the Rays sat at the top of the AL East as recently as August 25th with a percentage points lead over the Red Sox. Snap out of it, welcome back. The good guys will start the day Tuesday seven-and-a-half behind Boston with 20 games left to play. In short, Tampa Bay isn’t where they could or should be, but they’re still in contention.
Suffice to say, the Rays have scuffled over the course of the last month plus. They no longer hold a commanding lead over the Wildcard pack; they currently sit a mere game-and-a-half ahead of the Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles. And though Tampa Bay won’t be battling it out for first place this time around, the upcoming series against Boston is no less important. In short, they need to win. As the saying goes, time is of the essence, and well…there’s no time to waffle — especially when you consider that they need to win 15 games in order to match the Orioles 93 win plateau — set the year prior.
It certainly won’t be easy. The Red Sox have been on fire, winning 11 of the last 14 games while averaging a staggering 7.3 runs per game. In contrast, the Rays have lost 11 of their past 15 games, averaging a paltry 2.5 runs per game. Adding fuel to the fire, Boston has won three straight series on the road and six in a row overall after taking three of four from the Yankees despite losing 4-3 on Sunday. What’s more, Tampa Bay begins a stretch of 20 games in 20 days, with 14 of the games against teams contending for a playoff spot — three against Boston, four against Texas, four against Baltimore and three against the Yankees in New York. No other postseason contender plays as many games against other contenders as the Rays. Call it a gauntlet of sorts.
In any case, if the Rays can build on the momentum coming off their 4-1 win against the Mariners, this could be a very fun series indeed.
Clay Buchholz: Per Rotowire, following his substantial stint on the DL, “The Red Sox want to give Buchholz (shoulder) four starts over the duration of the regular season, WEEI.com reports.” Red Sox manager manager John Farrell indicated Buchholz will be limited to 75-80 pitches, after throwing in a 3-2/3 inning for Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday. To put it bluntly, the Rays — as a whole — have not put up good numbers against Buchholz. In their last meeting against the Red Sox lefty, Buchholz posted a strong eight inning outing, relinquishing only two hits while striking out 11. Key match-ups: David DeJesus (3-9, 2B, 3 BB), Sam Fuld (1-4, 2B, RBI, BB), Matt Joyce (6-21, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB), Jose Molina (7-20, 2B, 4 RBI, BB), Sean Rodriguez (3-10, 2B, RBI).
Ryan Dempster: Per Rotowire, “Dempster will not be bumped from the rotation to make room for Clay Buchholz (shoulder) and will make his next start Wednesday, WEEI.com reports.” Dempster has been good against the Rays this season, though three of his four runs relinquished came in his last outing against Tampa Bay. Dempster went six innings in that 6-2 loss back in July. Key match-ups: Evan Longoria (2-8, HR, RBI), Jose Molina (3-3), Luke Scott (3-7, 2B, 3B, RBI), Delmon Young (1-3), Ben Zobrist (2-5, RBI, BB).
Jake Peavy: Per Rotowire, “Peavy allowed four runs and six hits over six innings to record a no-decision against the Yankees on Thursday. He walked three and struck out four.” The Rays last faced Peavy when he was on that other Sox team, tagging him for two homers in the Rays 5-4 win. Peavy has been inconsistent in 2013, relinquishing four or more runs in a third of his starts. Nevertheless, he has been tough on Tampa Bay over the years, with the Rays posting a combined .220 BA/.265 OBP/.447 SLG/.712 slash Line against the Red Sox RHP. Key match-ups: James Loney (9-28, 4 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB), Sean Rodriguez (2-4), Ben Zobrist (4-10, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB).
Noteworthiness
- Tampa Bay, as a team, has scored a major league-low 41 runs since August 25th. Matt Joyce hasn’t homered in that span and is in 2-for-29 slump, and Evan Longoria is hitting .176 with three RBIs in the last 14 games. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are batting .361 with 18 home runs over their last five games.
- David Price has been a bit shaky in his last five starts, posting a 4.78 ERA with 37 hits allowed in 32 innings. He hasn’t posted consecutive losses since August 2011. However, he has defeated the Red Sox in two starts against them since the All-Star break, allowing two runs in 16 1-3 innings, but both were in Boston.
- Oof. Per Roger Mooney of the Tampa Trubune, “The Rays have hit into at least one double play in 17 of their last 19 games. Since Aug.7, they have hit into a major league-high 36 double plays.”
- The Rays are 6-10 against the Red Sox this season but have held Red Sox hitters to a .211 batting average and 3.9 runs per game. The Sox are hitting .285 and averaging 5.4 runs a game against everyone else.