October baseball just gets better and better. The Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays will go head-to-head in what should be an exciting ALCS to determine who will advance to this year’s World Series. These two teams don’t like each other—let’s not forget about their regular season brawl—which only adds to the drama of this series. The AL East division champion Rays had success against the Red Sox during the regular season, but so did the Angels, and they’re on vacation right now.

Red Sox vs. Rays

The Red Sox are the defending world champs; to beat them, you have to earn it. You need to be able to get that two-out base hit with a runner in scoring position, you can’t make errors and give them extra outs and your hitters have to work the pitch counts and draw walks and get extra base hits. Every at-bat counts, every pitch counts and every play can be the difference between going to the World Series and going home. Execution is the key. It will be important for the Rays to jump on the Red Sox early and put runs on the board in the early innings. The Rays' pitching staff and bullpen were solid against the White Sox and they will need to be even better against the Red Sox.  Probably the biggest advantage that the Rays have going into this series is their versatility, their ability to beat teams in a variety of different ways.

The Rays are a young athletic group that can beat you with their team speed, hurt you with the long ball and shut you down with their pitching and defense. This team is relentless. They work pitch counts, they execute on the base paths and they don’t make mistakes in the field. The chemistry of the Rays is probably their biggest asset. This is a team that has faced its share of adversity throughout the year and did not crack under the pressure. Like Boston, the Rays do not have many weaknesses. 

Perhaps the biggest advantage the Boston Red Sox have going into this series is that they have been here before. Albeit, this is a completely different Red Sox team this time around, but Red Sox players will have you believe that this team is more dynamic these days, that they too can win in a variety of different ways. But there are some question marks going into this series. With Mike Lowell injured and Josh Beckett not his usual dominating self, the Red Sox aren’t firing on all cylinders. David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia aren’t having fantastic postseasons thus far and the Red Sox don’t look invincible. It’s been other unsung heroes like Kevin “Youk” Youkilis, J.D. Drew, Jason Bay and Jed Lowrie who have stepped up in the clutch. While that speaks volumes about the depth of this Red Sox team, it does leave room for doubt. Everyone knows that the postseason is the time for stars to shine and sluggers to mash. When that doesn’t happen, teams usually end up watching the World Series from home.

Home field advantage belongs to the Rays, who have been almost unbeatable in front of the capacity crowd at the “Trop.” The Red Sox do have a hot pitcher in John Lester, who in two starts hasn’t allowed a run in the postseason. But what about “Dice K”?  Daisuke Matsuzaka has been very effective against the Rays this year, holding them to a .228 batting average. He is the only Red Sox pitcher to win at Tropicana Field, but he seldom makes it past the fifth inning which can really stretch a bullpen in a seven-game series.


If there’s a team to upset Boston this year, it would be the Rays. They aren’t afraid of Jonathan Papelbon; they’ve gotten to him before. They aren’t afraid of Fenway; they’ve won there before in a playoff-like atmosphere. No doubt they’re confident at home, because Boston is just 1-7 at the “Trop.” The Rays are young enough and maybe even crazy enough to think that this is their year. 

Bet on 2008 MLB Playoff odds in the Bodog Sportsbook.
 

 

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