After the Boston Red Sox won two games in the American League Division Series, things will pick up on Monday night at Tropicana Field as the Tampa Bay Rays try to stave off elimination down 2-0 in the ALDS and the game will be broadcast on TBS television starting at 6 pm.
The Red Sox are coming into the playoffs as the top seeded team in the American League after winning the AL East with a 97-65 record and their performance this season only makes what happened last year seem like a dream. The Red Sox were terrible one year after collapsing at the end of the season and they have basically turned around their team from the jokes they were in 2012, hiring a new manager and putting on a new attitude, as they won the division for the first time in a few years.
Game 3 Schedule for Monday night
Start Time at 6:07 PM
Boradcast On TBS From Tropicana Field
Clay Buchholz and Alex Cobb pitching
The team did not work well with previous manager Bobby Valentine and things under John Farrell have been much better, as the team finished well ahead of the Rays and Yankees in the division, with Tampa finishing five and a half games back, while the Yankees and Orioles were 12 games back and the Blue Jays were 23 games back by the end of the season. The Red Sox were by far one of the best offensive teams in baseball and they also weren't afraid to make trades in the season, as they gave up young star José Iglesias to get themselves some Jake Peavy.
The Rays will have Alex Cobb on the mound on Monday night and he will be facing Clay Buchholz, who despite being injured this season finished the year with 12 wins and just one loss with a sub 2.00 ERA. The pitching matchup has the potential to be one of the best of the series after the other two games got a bit out of hand, including with David Price pitching no Saturday and giving up two home runs to David Ortiz, who came into the postseason after hitting 30 homers with over 100 RBIs.
The Red Sox won the AL East on the strength of their offense and their pitching and they will need that working on Monday to put down the Rays, who seemingly have a knack about playing games when they have their backs against the wall. Cobb is the perfect pitcher to have on the mound for the team, as he pitched six scoreless innings in the wild card game against Texas and he was the most consistent pitcher for the Rays all season and now he will have their postseason on the line when he takes the mound.
The Red Sox did not make the playoffs last season and neither did the Rays, with Boston having won their last title back in 2007. The team felt it was necessary to trade for Peavy during the season, as Buchholz was injured and now they have him back along with a top of the line starter for the postseason. If Buchholz can continue to pitch like he did early in the year when he was 9-0 before getting hurt, the Red Sox will be very hard to defeat.