Game 154 Preview: Red Sox at Rays

The Red Sox are cruising towards a Division title after their 8th straight win last night in Baltimore and will look to shrink their magic number with another win tonight against the Rays. Just a week ago it appeared that the Sox had finally found some September magic that would vault them into the final couple of weeks, but it did more than that and now the team is looking at the possibility of clinching the Division as early as Sunday afternoon.

Drew Pomeranz (2-5 4.91 w/Red Sox) appears to be the odd man out of the possible playoff rotation. It's not just because he's gone 2-3 with a 4.66 ERA in his last 7 starts, but more so his fellow starters Clay Buchholz and Eduardo Rodriguez have pitched superior to him in the last month and a half. Pomeranz did strike out a season high 11 Rays last month and will try to bounce back from a no decision against the Yankees over the weekend.

The Rays will counter with Chris Archer (8-18 4.05) who already is tied for the most losses in a season for a Rays pitcher. He'll face David Ortiz one last time before the slugger retires and will be happy to see him go. Ortiz has batted .368 against Archer in 38 at-bats, with three homers, 4 doubles and an incredible 17 RBIs.


Here is tonight's Red Sox lineup:

Pedroia (2B)
Bogaerts (SS)
Ortiz (DH)
Betts (RF)
Ramirez (1B)
Shaw (3B)
Bradley Jr (CF)
Holaday (C)
Holt (LF)


Quick Hits:

- The Red Sox magic number to clinch the division is now 5
- Rays First Basemen Brad Miller has one career homer against Pomeranz and has 5 hits in 11 at-bats
- Archer has lost 10 straight decisions to the Red Sox

Have a question for Mike during the game or whenever a baseball discussion is going on, reach out via Twitter: @86flynn