Series Preview: Tampa Bay Rays @ Boston Red Sox

All three games are 7:10 PM starts.

Monday, September 6: Jeff Niemann (4.62 FIP) vs. Jon Lester (3.15 FIP)

Tuesday, September 7: David Price (3.47 FIP) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (3.84 FIP)

Wednesday, September 8: Matt Garza (4.18 FIP) vs. Clay Buchholz (3.61 FIP)

The Red Sox are throwing their best starters against us this series, so thankfully it doesn't matter if they sweep or not. Sure, a sweep by the Sox wouldn't be great, but it wouldn't be too threatening at this point; the Sox are currently 7.5 games back in the Wild Card and there are only 26 games left in the season. Their chance at making the playoffs now stands at a minuscule 1.1%, so rejoice and be merry - the 2010 Red Sox have been slain!

Despite the fact that the Sox are virtually eliminated from the playoff race, these should be entertaining games. The Red Sox are still a tough, good team; when they played the Rays a bit over a week age, every game was close and as tense as a playoff game. 

For the Rays, the key to winning this series comes down to pitching. The Sox have great starting pitchers and a solid bullpen (yes, even including the self-imploding Papelbon), so runs are going to be tough to come by. The Rays will need their starters to be on the top of their game, including Jeff Niemann. Niemann has (to say the least) struggled in his previous two starts, letting up 17 earned runs in only 8.1 innings pitched. His main issue seems to be with stamina; with only two starts under his belt since being on the disabled list, he's lost velocity each game at an alarming rate as his pitch count has increased.

Will Niemann last longer tonight? Will the Rays continue to get good pitching performances from Garza and Price? Only time will tell, but I'm excited to find out!