Sox take Jays…next up Rays

This had to be a demoralizing weekend for the Toronto Blue Jays. Coming into the weekend, the Jays were winners of ten of their previous eleven and were looking to continue their 2008 version of the Colorado Rockies. Cito Gaston even shuffled his pitching staff to have both A.J. Burnett & Roy Halladay face the Sox in a four game series that likely sealed their playoff fate. Only Burnett was able to beat the Sox and by losing three out of four, the Jays drop to 8.5 games behind the Sox for the Wild Card chase with only a dozen games to go.

At the same time our friends, the New York Yankees, were helping Red Sox Nation by taking two of three from Tampa in their final trip to Yankee Stadium.

So all this leads to a three game set in Tampa starting tomorrow - most likely for the division. It won’t be easy as the Rays, like the Sox, have one of the best home records in baseball with a 53-21 record. I wondered how the Rays would handle the pressure of their first pennant chase, played mostly on the road in September. To this point in the month, the Rays are 4-8 for the month and looking forward to their last homestand prior to the ALDS opening next month. It won’t be an easy seven days as the Rays host the Wild Card leader in our Sox and then a four game set with the team chasing Boston, the Minnesota Twins. The Sox are 9-4 for the month having played most of their games at Fenway Park. This trip to Tampa and then Toronto will be their last road trip before the ALDS starts in October.

It won’t be easy but anything less than taking two of three from the Rays at Tropicana Field and the Sox should sent their advanced scout teams to Anaheim to know the Angels inside and out.

Pitching matchups for the series look like this:

Monday @ 7:10PM

Matsuzaka (16-2 2.97) @ Kazmir (11-6 2.99)

Tuesday @ 7:10PM

Beckett (12-9 4.10) @ Sonnanstine (13-7 4.47)

Wednesday @ 7:10PM

Wakefield (9-10 3.92) @ Garza (11-9 3.60)

If you have any questions or just want to talk sports, I can be reached at jimmulligan@sportstalkbuzz.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

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