Keep The Jays At Bay by Jared Carrabis
Sox Welcome Jays For Four

After a desperately needed day off for the Boston Red Sox following a difficult series (both physically and mentally) the Sox are set to welcome the red hot Blue Jays to Fenway Park for a four game series. With the enormous payroll of the New York Yankees along with all the big names on their roster, everyone expects the Bronx Bombers to make the playoffs every season. Of course if they Yankees some how don't make the postseason then that normally means that only one team from the AL East will be advancing to the first round of the playoffs, not this year.


This season we have seen the emergence of the Tampa Bay Rays as not only one of the most elite teams in the division, but in all of baseball. Now, as we all watch the Yankees fall further and further away into an impossible hole to climb out of, the Toronto Blue Jays have filled the void that New York had once possessed. The late season surge by the Toronto Blue Jays has put the Yankees in fourth place at lightning speed and with sixteen games remaining, the Jays are just 6.5 games back of the Red Sox in the Wild Card.


The Red Sox really need to buckle down and play hard this series because they unfortunately have caught Toronto at a real bad time. The Blue Jays are undoubtedly playing their best baseball right now that they have all season long, not to mention that the Blue Jays have always been a thorn in the side of the Red Sox regardless. The Jays are winners of their last ten of eleven games and seven of their last sixteen games are scheduled to be played against the first place Boston Red Sox with the Wild Card in reach.


On the bright side, with the exception of the two tough losses to Tampa Bay, the Red Sox have been playing great baseball for the past month or so consistently. Also, the four game series will be played at Fenway Park where the Red Sox hold a 49-21 record. It may be too late for the Jay's postseason hopes this year, but if this team can rebound and play the same baseball next season that they're playing right now, they could make the AL Easy very interesting next season assuming that the Yankees are going to be making some big chances in the offseason. Let's face it, any playoff rotation with Roy Halladay and AJ Burnett in it is certainly something to be scared of.


Boston sends Tim Wakefield to the mound tonight. Tim Wakefield will be making appearance number 501 in a Red Sox uniform. Wakefield does not have great success against the Jays this season going 0-1 with an ERA of 4.15 in two starts but look for a hungry Boston offense looking to rebound after two heart breaking losses to the Tampa Bay Rays. Opposing Wakefield will be David Purcey. Purcey has yet to face Boston this season but on the road he has struggled going 1-3 with a 5.73 ERA in four starts.

Published on September 12, 2008

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