The Boston Red Sox will be looking to get a couple of days off by completing a sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays to advance to the American League Championship Series for the first time since losing to the Rays in 2008.
The Red Sox were led by an offensive explosion in the first two games of the series wining 12-2 in Game One and 7-4 in Game Two. The offensive feat is more impressive when considering that the Sox were able to do so against Rays ace David Price and Matt Moore.
In order to stave off elimination the Rays are turning to Alex Cobb. Cobb has had a sensation year despite missing a significant amount of time after a scary incident when he was hit in the head by a line drive. In only 22 starts Cobb was 11-3 with a 2.76 ERA and 134 S). The 25-year-old who was born in Boston has had very little luck against the Sox putting up a 2-2 record with a 4.19 ERA in seven starts, according to MLB.com.
"You've got to respect these guys," Cobb said. "If you don't respect them, you're not going to respect anybody. They're a tough, tough ballclub from top to bottom. They've got everything covered, it seems like. It's going to take everybody's 'A' game every night to try to take this series."
It's going to take a lot to stop the Boston offense. Through the first two games the Sox are hitting .352 as a team and have outscored the Rays 19-6, according to ESPN.
"I'm just glad I'm a catcher on this team and I don't have to figure out how to pitch to this lineup," David Ross told ESPN. "You've got two speedsters at the top who can steal bags and both have power. You've got a 3-hole hitter in Dustin Pedroia who has a Rookie of the Year, an MVP and a World Series [ring]. Then you've got David Ortiz, who's one of the best left-handed hitters in the game and may be a Hall of Famer."
Rays manager Joe Maddon, one of the most relaxed men in the entire sport, isn't worried despite the 2-0 hole his team is in; they played three straight elimination games to reach the series against Boston.
"We just went through a week of backs against the wall, so it's not new to us," Maddon told MLB.com. "It's going to be difficult. There's no question it's going to be difficult... but I don't think it's impossible by any means. We've been in this boat in the past and we've forced Game Fives in those situations. Boston this time of the year is kind of lovely, and I'm looking forward to coming back in a few days."
While they try to close out the series the Sox will be sending Clay Buchholz to the mound. Like Cobb, Buchholz put up fantastic numbers this season despite spending a significant amount of time on the disabled list. Buchholz finished the year with a 12-1 record and a 1.74 ERA despite only making 16 starts; he will be looking for his first playoff victory when he takes the mound on Monday.
"I'm excited, a little anxious to get it started," Buchholz told ESPN. "I'm going to just try to do the same thing as I've done all year when I've been out there: stay in the zone, throw strikes, try to get your hitters in the dugout as quick as possible."
The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET. A live radio broadcast of the game can be heard through ESPN Radio at this link. A live stream of the game can be seen through TBS at the following link.
