Tampa Bay @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 29, 2010 ) Boston 3, Tampa Bay 5
It's the last stand for the Boston Red Sox.
Trailing Tampa Bay by 7 1/2 games in the race for the wild card, the Red Sox host the Rays in the start of a three-game series at Fenway Park on Monday night. It is the last series between the two teams this season.
While even a sweep by Boston may not do any good, it's a start. The Red Sox have lost three straight games and seven of their last 10.
The Red Sox do have their pitching rotation set for the last hurrah. Jon Lester (15-8, 3.27 ERA) has been just about everything Boston had hoped for this season.
Lester struggled in his last outing but still got the win to continue his dominance over the Baltimore Orioles. Lester allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings, but Boston rallied for the 9-6 victory.
Lester is 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA in three starts against the Rays this year. In his career, the left-hander is 8-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 15 career outings against Tampa Bay. He has won four of his last five starts against Tampa Bay and allowed two runs or fewer in those victories.
Boston will start Daisuke Matsuzaka on Tuesday and then plans to come back with Clay Buchholz in Wednesday's series finale. It will be the first time in Buchholz's career that he'll start on just three days rest, and it's likely that if Tampa Bay wins the first two games, Buchholz will be pushed back to his usual starting spot.
The move to use Buchholz shows a measure of pure desperation on the part of Boston manager Terry Francona, who tried to get five outs from closer Jonathan Papelbon in Sunday's loss to the Chicago White Sox.
Papelbon wilted in the second inning of his stint and after throwing a whopping 48 pitches - with only 29 serving as strikes.
Francona then brought in rookie Robert Manuel, who walked in two runs to give the White Sox the victory. Papelbon has blown a career-high seven saves this season - and after Sunday's extensive workout, he will most likely be unavailable Monday.
Jeff Niemann starts on Monday for Tampa Bay, which hopes to land the knockout blow on Boston's hopes.
The Rays are also hoping to catch the New York Yankees in the AL East race. After falling to Baltimore on Sunday, Tampa Bay is 2 1/2 games behind New York.
Niemann (10-5) has shut down the Red Sox twice this season, posting a 2-0 mark with a 1.38 ERA.
The tall right-hander has struggled since coming off the disabled list a week ago. In two starts since being sidelined with a sore shoulder, Niemann allowed seven runs in five innings to Toronto and 10 runs in just 3 1/3 innings to the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 25.
The Rays lost both those games.