Royals vs. Athletics — An AL Wildcard Preview of Sorts

While I am grizzled by the fact that my team isn’t in the playoffs, I’m pretty excited that my favorite pitcher, James Shields, is getting another shot at the postseason. Since Shields and teammate Wade Davis, along with more than a handful of Athletics, are former Rays, covering Tuesday night’s AL Wildcard Game seemed like a no-brainer.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Beat the Sox 5-4

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox Tuesday night by a score of 5-3, taking the first game of a three game set from their AL East rivals. The Rays have now won six consecutive games, while Matt Moore has become Major League Baseball’s only 7-0 pitcher on the back of a 6.0 IP/3 H/3 R/3 ER/2 BB/8 K/1 HR outing where he threw 100 pitches (62 for strikes). Fernando Rodney got his seventh save in his first 1-2-3 outing of the season.

The New What Next: Enter the Red Sox

Come Tuesday, the 19-18 Tampa Bay Rays will welcome the 22-16 Boston Red Sox into the Trop, for the first game of a three game set against their AL East rivals. The surging Rays look to make up some ground in the East against a struggling Red Sox team, who have gone 2-8 over their last 10 games. If Tampa Bay can take the series, they’ll waltz into Baltimore at least three games over .500 and tied with the Red Sox for third place in the East. This promises to be a big series.