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Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox Preview

Written May 10, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz

red-sox-rays Well, that certainly was a nice performance by Tampa Yesterday. After losing the opening game of the series they come back and pound Boston 14-5. Evan Longoria continues his monstrous tear with five RBIs which included a grand slam. B.J. Upton showed signs of life while Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena did their usual thing as well. While Kazmir still did not pitch the way he is capable of going only five innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, he did pick up the victory so maybe that will spring board him for his next start. The Rays have been playing much better as of late going 7-3 in their last 10 games. They will face the Sox in what is the rubber game of the series tonight. Matt Garza will get the start and that should give Manager Joe Maddon a ton of confidence. He has already beaten Boston two times this year while only allowing one run in 14.2 innings of work. Now, keep in mind that all of these head to head stats can be very deceptive. Sports bettors so often see a stat like that and say to themselves “Oh man, Garza has dominated the Red Sox, I’m definitely taking Tampa”. Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions. Situation, home field and intangibles play a big role in these types of games between two contending division teams.. Carl Crawford will be the x-factor tonight for Tampa if they win. The Rays are +131 underdogs at 5 Dimes.

The Red Sox will take the field tonight for Sunday Night baseball and put yesterday’s game to rest. Jason Bay continues to be on of the best hitters in the game this year. His power has been surprising to some while he also brings a superb arm to the table. Unfortunately Kevin Youkilis is still out with his oblique injury. But Mike Lowell, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury will be ready to go as this team has way to much heart and talent to allow themselves to start the season dropping back to back series against Tampa. Jon Lester struggled big time last night and as the years go by this team will slowly but surely become his as he will be the ace. But, right now Josh Beckett is still here and he is your stop gap. The hard throwing Beckett is primed for a big game. He has not pitched well this year as he is 3-2 with a 6.75 ERA. He has given up 10 hits in each of his last three starts. Last season Beckett went 2-1 with a 2.06 ERA in five starts against the Rays. The winner of this game takes the series. If anybody is short sided enough to think it is just one game in May, they are very wrong. Boston has struggled with Tampa and on Sunday Night Baseball, they want this one. The Red Sox are -140 at Sportsbook.com.

Haimo’s Hot Notes: The Rays are 3-8 in their last 11 games following a win. Tampa is 2-6 in their last eight starts when Garza starts on the road. The Red Sox are 2-6 in their last eight meetings verse The Rays. Come on now, shred these trends tonight. In a game like this, who needs them. You are talking about two teams who met in the AL Championship last year. Rays and their young guns vs Boston and their grit and experience. To many reasons why The Sox need this game. Expect Beckett to be strong tonight and Bay continue to tear. Longoria has been amazing, so you can count on him getting sent a message. THE NATION.

Jordan’s Pick: Red Sox -140

A split last night we received as The Brew Crew put the jets on late. Tonight we got one play and its Sunday Night Baseball. Short and to the point. Good Luck.

Documented MLB Record: 44-23 OVERALL & 17-8 on BEST BETS

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One Response to “Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox Preview”

joe on May 10th, 2009 11:42 am

I disagree. Don’t much care about the Rays history to date. Garza has the ability to lock-down the Sox lineup and the Rays bats are hot. I’ll side with the dog here.

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