Moment of Truth: Red Sox Face Make-or-Break-Trip to Tampa Bay | National sports

What is currently realistically possible for the Red Sox?

Does the team still have the chance to win the AL East and go straight to the American League Divisional Series? Or is it wild card or bankrupt and hope that the team can survive the one-game-play-in game?

What happens over the next four nights should tell us everything we need to know.

This week, the Red Sox will face the first-placed Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in a four-game road series. Boston is entering the Rays eight games back in the AL East standings, and it’s fair to say that if the team has any hope of filling that void, they must start making up now.

If the Red Sox win the series – and especially if they sweep – they’ll be right back in the AL East chase and could potentially push for first place if they host the Rays later this month.

If they lose or split up, you can forget about the breakdown and focus on keeping up with New York, Oakland, Seattle, and Toronto.

Aside from the series’ obvious ramifications from a playoff perspective, this is also a crucial series of evidence for Boston. The last time the Red Sox went to Tampa, they were overwhelmed, kicking off the team’s epic nosedive in early August that lifted them off division leadership. When they faced the Rays again two weeks ago at Fenway, things didn’t go much better and lost two out of three.

Looking back even further, Boston has lost seven of its last eight games to Tampa after winning its first four, and against winning teams in general, Boston has been 2-12 since July 29. Tampa has now won seven in a row and eleven of its last 12 after completing a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

While it’s nice to beat up bad teams like Texas, Minnesota and Cleveland, sooner or later the Red Sox have to show that they can still do the job against the league’s other competitors.

And unfortunately they will have to do it a little understaffed.

Kiké Hernández and Christian Arroyo both tested positive for COVID-19 and won’t make the trip to Tampa, meaning Boston will be without its leadoff hitter and top service provider. There is a possibility that infielder Danny Santana will return from injury on Monday, but Hernández was one of Boston’s top hitters in the second half and won’t be easily replaced.

The good news is that Kyle Schwarber, Boston’s big trading deadline takeover, will finally be available after missing each of the last two Tampa series due to injury. Schwarber is likely to beat Leadoff against Tampa, and since his return he’s beating .385 with a .529 on-base percentage and a 1,170 OPS for the Sox.

From the pitch, Boston will open on Monday with Nick Pivetta (9-6, 4.57 ERA) against Luis Patino (3-3, 4.53), Chris Sale (3-0, 2.35) will face Drew Rasmussen (1-1, 3.46. ). ) on Wednesday and Eduardo Rodriguez (10-7, 5.12) will face Shane McClanahan (9-4, 3.59) on Thursday. Neither team announced their starters for Tuesday, despite Red Sox manager Alex Cora hinting they could use it as bullpen day.

Regardless of who is playing when, the Red Sox cannot afford to lose these games. With just one month left in the regular season, every game counts from now on, and Boston must now set the tone if it hopes to succeed in October.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.

The post Moment of Truth: Red Sox Face Make-or-Break-Trip to Tampa Bay | National sports first appeared on Daily Florida Press.

from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/moment-of-truth-red-sox-face-make-or-break-trip-to-tampa-bay-national-sports/