A pair of AL East opponents continue their final regular season series on the diamond in Beantown with different outlooks for the future. The Tampa Bay Rays are on the road as they travel to play the middle game of a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox Tuesday night. Tampa Bay dropped the rubber game of their three-game set on the road to the Astros as they fell 3-1 Sunday afternoon. Boston was swept north of the border by Toronto as they were beaten 6-3 in the finale of that set Sunday afternoon. This article was published before the conclusion of Monday night’s game at Fenway Park.
Tampa Bay fell for the second straight game against Houston as they were unable to generate much in the way of offense Sunday afternoon. The Rays entered Monday third in the AL East, 11.5 games behind the Yankees for the top spot. They were four games behind the Blue Jays for the top wild card spot and 1.5 games behind the second wild card Mariners. On Sunday, Tampa Bay got two hits each from Manuel Margot, Ji-Man Choi (run) and Christian Bethancourt (RBI) in the loss. The Rays went one for six with runners in scoring position in the game. Corey Kluber (10-10) took the loss on the mound as he threw five innings, allowing two runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
Jeffrey Springs is on the mound for Tampa Bay as he makes his 33rd appearance and 25th start of the season in this contest. He comes in 9-4 with a 2.45 ERA, a 1.073 WHIP, 30 walks and 141 strikeouts over 1 32.1 innings of work this season. Springs didn’t factor in the decision in his last start, which came on the road against the Guardians Thursday. He threw six innings, allowing no runs on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts in an eventual 2-1 Rays loss. In his last three starts, Springs is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP, one walk and 17 strikeouts over 16.2 innings of work. Springs makes his 12th career appearance and fourth start against the Red Sox in this contest. He has a 0-1 record, a 3.92 ERA, a 1.307 WHIP, seven walks and 24 strikeouts over 20.2 innings of work against them. Springs is 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA, a 1.753 WHIP, eight walks and 33 strikeouts over 25.2 innings in 15 career appearances, two starts, at Fenway Park.