ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF
The American League East will see two of its teams going at it Wednesday, as the Tampa Bay Rays (74-77, fourth in AL East) host the Boston Red Sox (75-76, third in AL East) at Tropicana Field for game two of their midweek regular season series. This will be the ninth meeting between the two squads this season, with the previous eight being split at four wins apiece. First pitch will be at 6:50 p.m.
Momentum Carryover for the Rays?
While the Red Sox are one spot above the Rays in the AL East standings, both teams are currently sitting around a .500 record, which makes this matchup that much more important. Tampa Bay is coming off of an 8-3 win against Boston in the first game of the series.
Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot is expected to get the start on the mound for Tuesday night’s action. Pepiot has compiled an 8-6 record this season with a 3.76 ERA. As far as hitters go, Tampa Bay saw some big performances in the first game of the series on Tuesday.
Jose Siri hit one out of the park and added four runs. Brandon Lowe, Junior Caminero and Josh Lowe all hit one homer each as well. The team exploded in the fifth inning, smashing three of their four home runs of the night in the frame. This didn’t even include Christopher Morel, who leads the team with 21 home runs on the year so far.
The bats. They are too hot. Send help. 🚒 pic.twitter.com/cSahm7euXO
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 18, 2024
Pump the Brakes
Coming off Tuesday’s loss, Boston can’t afford to give Tampa Bay any more opportunities to get hot. The task at hand will be to pick up the win and add on to their one-game lead over the Rays in the division standings. Much of this will fall onto right-hander Tanner Houck, who’s expected to start on the mound Tuesday night. Houck, who’s 8-10 with a 3.24 ERA, will have the challenge of limiting how often teams take the Sox yard.
The Rays hit 4 home runs tonight. The Sox have given up 90 homers since the All-Star Break. No other team has given up 80.
— Tom Caron (@TomCaron) September 18, 2024
Nevertheless, there’s no time like the present for Boston to fix these problems. Sitting five games behind the Minnesota Twins, who currently hold the final American League wildcard spot, time is running out for the Red Sox to make one final run for the playoffs. In fact, that timer currently sits at 11 games.
Boston’s bats will need to get active from the get-go, namely their home run leaders Tyler O’Neill and Rafael Devers. O’Neill and Devers have already tallied 31 and 28 homers so far in the 2024 season, respectively.
The Red Sox started off Tuesday’s game with a 2-0 lead, courtesy of a homer from first baseman Triston Casas. If they can continue to build these early leads and find a way to maintain them, they could make the run they need.
Triston sending that 108.1 mph off the bat! pic.twitter.com/6qVq8cjq40
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 17, 2024
Ultimately, one of these two teams will exit the night with a much-needed win. Meanwhile, the other squad will be one step closer to being eliminated from playoff contention.
