The postseason in the MLB is in full swing in the American and National Leagues and on Monday night the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays are facing off in an elimination Game 3 at Tropicana Field starting at 6:07 pm on TBS.
The Boston Red Sox missed the playoffs last season after having one of the worst years in recent franchise history, but after a blockbuster trade and a new manager, the team is on the verge of making it to the American League Championship Series for the first time in years. The team last won a championship back in 2007 and they are facing a Rays team that has never won one before and now they must win just to remain alive while avoiding the series sweep from the Red Sox.
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The Red Sox were one of the best teams in baseball on the offensive side of things and players like David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury carried them along as they made their way through the season, eventually pulling away and winning the American League East over the rays, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays. The rebound was a far stretch from what the team did last season and now Ortiz is the elder statesman from back on the 2004 WS club and he led the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs this past season.
The Rays and Red Sox have played against each other previously in the postseason when Tampa made it to the World Series, but this time it's in the ALDS and now the Rays are down 2-0 and facing a sweep in the series. The Red Sox will be looking to make this playoff run count after not being in it last season and they will have home field advantage against whoever comes out of the other series in the Oakland Athletics and the Detroit Tigers.
John Lackey got the win against David Price in Game 2, which saw Big Papi hit two home runs and now the team will try to make early work of the Rays to prepare for the Tigers and A's, who will go into at least Game 4 after being tied at 1-1. The Red Sox ranked first in the league in scoring and second in batting averages this season and they were also first in both on base and slugging percentage, two things that have shown great improvements from last year.
Alex Cobb and Clay Buchholz will be one of the best matchups of the playoffs and comes after Cobb helped the Rays get past the Texas Rangers in the wild card game. Buchholz was looking like the Cy Young favorite after starting 9-0 this season with a sub 2.00 ERA, but after getting hurt he finished at 12-1 and now he will put all that to the test on Monday night against the rays to try and pitch the Sox into the American League championship series.
Manager John Farrell likes the team's chances against the AL in the Tigers, A's and Rays and now the team will go for a third straight win to pull out the brooms to get a sweep on Monday night at the Trop. The Rays offense has been very hot and cold this season, ranking 11th in the league in runs scored, 12th in batting average and fourth in on base percentage and 10th in slugging and they will need players like Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist to be at their best on Monday night.
The game will be on at 6 pm on TBS for coverage of the ALDS playoffs between the Rays and the Boston Red Sox.