Tampa Bay Rays (82-66) @ Boston Red Sox (86-62)
Jeremy Hellickson (12-10, 2.96) @ Kyle Weiland (0-1, 6.75)
7:10 PM EDT | Fenway Park (Boston, MA)
TV: NESN, MLB Network RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510
GAME NOTES
The Rays come to Fenway tonight to start a crucial four-game series against the Red Sox. The Olde Towne Team find themselves 4 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East, and 4 games ahead of the Rays and 4-1/2 games ahead of the Angels for the AL Wild Card.
Kyle Weiland will try to get the Red Sox back to winning ways. Weiland threw four innings in his start against the Rays on September 10, giving up three earned runs on six hits and three walks while tallying one strikeout. Jeremy Hellickson gets the ball for the Rays. Hellickson is the only rookie starter to have beaten the Red Sox at Fenway this year. Hellickson is sixth overall in ERA in the AL and fifth in the AL with a .214 opponents average.
Lineups
Boston Red Sox
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Kevin Youkilis, 3B
- Josh Reddick, RF
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Marco Scutaro, SS
Tampa Bay Rays
- Desmond Jennings, LF
- B.J. Upton, CF
- Evan Longoria, 3B
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Johnny Damon, DH
- Matt Joyce, RF
- Casey Kotchman, 1B
- John Jaso, C
- Reid Brignac, SS
INJURY REPORT
Boston: Clay Buchholz, lower back strain (placed on 15-day DL June 19, retroactive to June 17); J.D. Drew, left shoulder impingement, broken finger (placed on 15-day DL July 26, placed on 60-day DL September 13); Josh Beckett, right ankle (day-to-day, will start Friday); Erik Bedard, left knee, left lat (day to day, likely to miss one start)
Tampa Bay: Alex Cobb, thoracic outlet syndrome (placed on the 15-day DL August 7); Sam Fuld, strained right wrist tendon (day-to-day)
Fun Facts
– Don’t forget to join us for a live chat during tonight’s game with our friends from The Ray Area.
– On September 15, 1912, Smokey Joe Wood beat the St. Louis Browns 2-1 to extend his winning streak to 16 games, tying the record set by Walter Johnson earlier that year. It was Wood’s 33rd victory of the year. Chicks used to dig the win.
– And for today’s Totally Untrue Fun Fact: Brignac is the name of a rarely-made cognac, last made by Benedictine monks for three weeks in the 15th century. A snifter of Brignac costs $37,500 at Ferg’s in St. Petersburg.