“Will This Tense Showdown Become a Battle of the Bullpens? Red Sox and Rays Aim for Scoreboard Silence!”

The Rays are one of those teams that I almost never know what to expect with them. The team consistently finds ways to make noise despite their payroll, and arguably playing in the worst stadium and in front of the worst fans of any team. I suppose the Marlins could claim the latter portion of that sentence, but whatever. Also, the Rays aren’t in the dome this season due to the hurricanes. I guess we can be impressed that the team has responded so positively to the change and they enter today’s game with a 7-8 record and are 7-5 in their home games this season. The hitting has been solid for the Rays, with a .265 batting average and 61 runs scored this season. The pitching is what stands out, as usual, to me about the team. Collectively, the team is throwing to a 3.53 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Tonight, Shane Baz takes the bump. Baz has been great for them in his two starts, going 13 innings, allowing 10 hits, and just two earned runs. His last start was still a quality outing but a bit shakier than his first one. He walked four while striking out six hitters. His history against the Red Sox hasn’t been great, allowing 10 hits in 34 at-bats, with half of them being for extra bases. 

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