Red Sox To Face Rays In ALDS

Well, my hope for a Red Sox-Indians ALDS ended last night, and the Rays will be heading back into the postseason to play the Red Sox.  I was actually rooting for Swisher last night, which is something I don't think I've ever done in my life.  I know a lot of other people were hoping for the Indians to make it in as well.  Not only would Francona returning to Fenway be a huge story, but the Indians making the postseason is a good story.

Of course, the Red Sox and Rays have a rivalry that has gone back years.  The Rays were always pesky against the Red Sox, even when they were still the Devil Rays.  When they were losing more games than their winning now, the Rays would find a way to beat the Red Sox.  Over the last 5 or so seasons, things have become even more competitive against the two teams.

The Red Sox set their rotations as Lester (Game 1), Lackey (Game 2), Buchholz (Game 3), and Peavy (Game 4- if needed).  The Rays are said to have Moore pitch Game 1 and Price Game 2.

The Rays strength is and pretty much always has been their pitching.  Moore ended the season with a 17-4 record and a 3.29 ERA, and Price was 10-8 with a 3.33 ERA.  After Moore and Price, the Rays have Cobb with a 11-3 record and a 2.76 ERA and Archer with a 9-7 record and a 3.22 ERA.

During the season, the Red Sox were 12-7 against the Rays, but the Red Sox only hit .209 against the Rays pitching.  The Red Sox average 3.7 runs against the Rays, and the run differential was only +14 in favor of the Red Sox.

On the other side, the Rays have won 10 of their last 12 games, and they've basically been in do-or-die mode for the last month.  However, Price also just pitched a complete game on Monday during the run-off game against the Rangers, so there may (hopefully) be some fatigue.

Outside of the pitching, the Red Sox will have to deal with Wil Myers, James Loney, and Evan Longoria at the plate.  Surprisingly, Loney lead the Rays with a .299 batting average.  Lonoria lead the team with 88 RBIs and a .498 slugging percentage.  Myers is the young superstar of the team that was traded from the Royals midseason.

As I updated yesterday, Farrell announced he would go with 11 pitchers for the ALDS roster, which means Thornton or Doubront will probably be on the roster.  It's not that I don't trust Farrell and his decision making, but I don't trust Thornton and/or Doubront's abilities.  Hopefully, I get proved wrong.Doubront pitched in the intrasquad game yesterday, so that may indicate he has the roster spot.

In other news, the Red Sox announced that approximately 3,900 fans showed up to the open practice/intersquad game.  The "Blue Shirts" won the game 1-0.  Saltalamacchia and Ross didn't catch but DH'd, and Salty hit an RBI double in the first inning.  Here's a picture from the game:

Photo from The Boston Globe

Well, that's it for me today.  I'll be writing a post before the 3:00 game tomorrow.  Thank you for everyone who has checked out the blog this week; it's been the best week I have ever had.