ALDS 2013: Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays Game 3 preview
By Bryan Rose
Who: Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays
Where: Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay
When: 6:07 PM, ET – TBS
Series record: 2-0, Boston
It’s been said that teams need to take it one game at a time. It’s a motto that the Tampa Bay Rays must conform to as they face elimination tonight in their ALDS against the Boston Red Sox.
The Rays’ road to the postseason has been a struggle, all but forced to win three straight win-or-go-home games on the road just for the right to play in the Division Series. When they got there, they were greeted by the lumbering bats of the Boston Red Sox who have pounded the Rays for 19 runs through the series’ first two games.
That’s a trend Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb is hoping to break as he attempts to save the Rays from postseason elimination this evening.
Cobb has been downright nasty this season, posting a 2.76 ERA in 143.1 innings, though success against the Red Sox has yet to appear. In four starts against Boston, Cobb holds a 5.16 ERA and is without a win.
The same can’t be said for Boston ace Clay Buchholz who, despite an injury plagued season has two wins in two starts against Tampa and has yet to give up a run in 13 innings of work against the Rays.
There’s no doubt, the odds are stacked against a comeback for the Rays, though, as the reigning World Champion San Francisco Giants proved last season, it’s not over until it’s over.