The Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays open a pressure-filled series on Friday night that will have playoff implications. Tampa Bay is tied with New York for first place in the AL East, but Boston has a chance to gain some ground on them as the two teams face each other six times over their next 12 games.
The Rays are the baseball odds favorites at -130 while the Red Sox pay +110. The over/under is 7 runs.
The Boston Red Sox (73-55, 33-29 away) have the misfortune of playing in the same division as baseball’s two best clubs, Tampa Bay and New York. They have struggled against the Rays this season, dropping 8 of 12 games against them.
Both Tampa Bay and New York were losers in their last respective outings, but the Red Sox were unable to capitalize. They lost to Seattle 4-2 on Wednesday, snapping a four-game winning streak.
John Lester (13-8, 3.26 ERA) will take the mound for the visiting Red Sox. The left-hander is 7-3 with a 4.18 ERA in 14 starts against Tampa Bay and is 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA in five starts at Tampa’s Tropicana Field.
The Tampa Bay Rays (78-49, 39-24 home) began the season by winning more games on the road than at home. Things have leveled off over the past 24 games, however, as they are 19-5 over that stretch. They have now won 39 games each at home and on the road.
The Rays will start David Price (15-5, 2.97 ERA). The left-hander is 7-1 with a 2.11 ERA in 11 starts at home. He set a franchise record for wins in a season when he got his 15th win on August 9, but he has not been able to get a win since. He is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in the two starts since then.
