A pair of AL East rivals continue a series on the diamond up in Beantown as they try to improve their playoff positioning. The Tampa Bay Rays are on the road as they play the middle game of a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox Saturday afternoon. Tampa Bay comes in off a sweep of the Angels at home as they won the finale of the set 8-3 Thursday afternoon. Boston was swept at home by Toronto as they were beaten 6-5 in 10 innings in the finale Thursday night. This article was published prior to the conclusion of the opening game of the series at Fenway Park Friday night.
Tampa Bay ran their win streak to six games as they knocked off Los Angeles in the finale of a three-game set at home Thursday afternoon. The Rays entered Friday second in the AL East, 7.5 games behind the Yankees for the top spot in the division. They owned the top wild card spot and stood four games clear of the Orioles to remain on the right side of the cut line. On Thursday, Tampa Bay finished with just seven hits with Manuel Margot (two runs, two RBI) recording four of them. Isaac Paredes hit his 16th homer of the season in the victory for Tampa Bay, who capitalized on four walks, two hit batters and an error. Drew Rasmussen (9-4) earned the win as he threw 5.1 innings, allowing one run on six hits with one walk and nine strikeouts before turning things over to the bullpen.
Jeffrey Springs is on the mound for Tampa Bay as he makes his 26th appearance and 18th st art of the season in this contest. He comes in 6-3 with a 2.46 ERA, a 1.084 WHIP, 22 walks and 102 strikeouts over 95 innings of work this season. Springs earned the win in his last start, which came at home against the Angels Monday night. He threw 5.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in a 2-1 Rays win. In his last three starts, Springs is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, six walks and 19 strikeouts over 15.2 innings of work. Springs makes his 10th career appearance and second start against the Red Sox in this contest. He has no record, a 3.09 ERA, a 1.371 WHIP, five walks and 14 strikeouts over 11.2 innings of work against them. Springs is 0-1 with a 7.32 ERA, a 1.836 WHIP, seven walks and 25 strikeouts over 19.2 innings in 14 career appearances, one start, at Fenway Park.