Back at it Tuesday night. The Tampa Bay Rays will start a brief two-game series against the Boston Red Sox tonight, at Tropicana Field.
The Rays start the day tied with Kansas City for the final Wildcard slot, 2-1/2 games behind New York for the top Wildcard slot, and 5-1/2 behind Boston in the division. As Neil Solondz noted (Rays Radio Blog), of the remaining 49 games, 17 are against the Royals, Red Sox and Yankees, while another 10 are against the Mariners and Orioles, teams right behind the Rays in the race.
You can read about tonight’s pitching matchup, and so much more, in our series preview.
Rays 8/8/17 Starting Lineup
Bourjos CF
Plouffe 3B
Longoria DH
Morrison 1B
Souza Jr RF
Ramos C
Hechavarria SS
Robertson 2B
Smith LF
Pruitt RHP
Noteworthiness
— The Rays made a roster move this afternoon, placing RHP Alex Cobb on the 10-day DL with turf toe (retroactive to August 6). LHP Blake Snell has been recalled and will take his place in the rotation for the time being.
If another pitcher goes down. club will pull Brian Anderson from the booth rather than bring Honeywell up https://t.co/GS0PdkBk02
— Jason Collette (@jasoncollette) August 8, 2017
Cobb said the toe was issue in his last start on Saturday, and could’ve pitched through it. The team, however, decided best to address now. He is certain he will miss just 10 days total.
Snell is replacing Cobb, and Alex has given us a lot of chances to win, said Rays manager Kevin Cash. Now Blake has to do the same.
Cash also said Snell was the obvious choice to replace Cobb (yes, more so than Brent Honeywell), and sees it as another chance for the southpaw to help the team.
— Major League Baseball released the dates for the 2017 postseason Tuesday afternoon, including the dates for the World Series beginning on Tuesday, October 24.
From Major League Baseball’s press release:
The American League Wild Card Game will be on ESPN on Tuesday, Oct. 3, followed a day later by the National League Wild Card Game, televised exclusively by TBS.
Both AL Division Series will be scheduled to begin on Thursday, Oct. 5. The first full slate of Division Series games, featuring two NLDS openers and a pair of ALDS Game 2 contests, will be held on Friday, Oct. 6. Overall, the Division Series are scheduled to run from Thursday, Oct. 5, through the following Thursday, Oct. 12, with potential Game 5s on Wednesday, Oct. 11 (ALDS) and Thursday, Oct. 12 (NLDS).
TBS will cover all NLDS games, while FS1 or MLB Network will cover the ALDS.
The AL Championship Series, beginning on Friday, Oct. 13, will be telecast by FOX or FS1. The NLCS, set to start on Saturday, Oct. 14, will be telecast by TBS. A potential Game 7 of the ALCS is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 21, while a potential Game 7 of the NLCS is set for Sunday, Oct. 22.
Game 1 of the 2017 World Series is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 24, and the best-of-seven series will change sites for Game 3 on Friday, Oct. 27. If a Game 7 proves necessary once again, it is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 1. Scheduled days off are Oct. 26 and 30 (if a Game 6 is necessary).
FOX Sports will present live telecast coverage of the World Series for the 20th time.
— Kevin Kiermaier (hip, back) still limited in baseball activities, and it’s unlikely that he will return until the next homestand at the soonest.