How we see it goin' down: Rays - Sox series

First Pitch: Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 7:10

Arms: Tuesday: David Price, LHP (18-5, 2.58 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz, RHP (11-6, 4.16 ERA)

Wednesday: Alex Cobb, RHP (9-9, 4.27 ERA) vs. Jon Lester, LHP (9-13, 4.96 ERA)  

                                       Yard: Fenway Park   Watch it: NESN   Hear it:  WEEI

The Matchup

Record: 83-70 (3rd AL East)	Record: 69-85 (4th AL East)
On road: 39-36	At home: 34-45
Streak: Won 5	Streak: Won 1
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Keppinger (.329)	Average: Podsednik (.309)
Homers: Upton (26)	Homers: Saltalamacchia (24)
RBI: Upton (74)	RBI: Ross (77)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Price (18)	Wins: Buchholz/Doubront (11)
ERA: Price (2.58) | Rodney (0.64)	ERA: Buchholz (4.16) | Tazawa (1.54)
K's: Shields (202)	K's: Lester (160)

Last time

The Sox and Rays split a 4-game series last week in Tampa Bay. After winning the first two games the Sox were killed in game 3. Then, game 4 was a complete disaster. After going into the ninth with a 4-1 lead, Andrew Bailey and Vicente Padilla combined for 6 runs in the inning to blow it for another heart-breaker. Can we still call those heart-breakers? We are well beyond that.

 This time

Laser Show: Dustin Pedroia

i had a bunch of names on a dart board and I hit Pedroia. Pedey will likely play in every game so that's a good start. He had an absolutely awful series in Tampa Bay, but he has picked it up since then.

Pitch Around: B.J. Upton, Jeff Keppinger, & Ben Zobrist

This trio killed the Sox last week in Tampa. Upton was responsible for the walk-off homer in the final game, Keppinger was a big part in the 13-3 rout of the Red Sox, and Zobrist drove in a run in every game.  They combined for 15 hits, 2 homers, 11 RBI, and 8 runs scored.

Don't Fall Behind: David Price

Once again, we will see a Price/Buchholz match-up. Both walked away from the last meeting with a no-decision (game 4). Buchholz had the much better outing, but Price has the better numbers on the season. The Rays are just barely hanging on and you know Price will be reaching back for his extra best stuff.

How we see it goin' down

The Rays have won 5 straight and are 3 games out of the final wild card spot with 9 games remaining on their schedule. They are going all out in this final home series for the Sox and they will likely sweep the quick two-game series. I hope for that result so the Sox can be assured a protected top 10 pick in the draft. Yeah, that's what they are playing for...or not playing for.