Now that the whole "winning team" thing is over and done with, the Sox can go on to being the best losers they can.
Whether that entails beating teams like the Rays to end their playoff hopes or just losing a lot, however, is really up to interpretation. On the one hand, it'd certainly be nice to end the postseason hopes of the team that overtook us last year once and for all. On the other hand, going an even 3-3 over the last six has put us a ways out of the top-five pick discussion, and giving the Rays some wins would put added pressure on the Yankees.
Oh, wait, I'm pretending like the Sox actually have some agency in this. The Rays' lineup is bad, very very bad. It's got Carlos Pena in it, and I'm not entirely sure he even remembers to bring his bat to the plate every time. But we, of course, are not ones to talk with our Jose Iglesiae and Ryan Lavarnways.
The difference is that the Rays can pitch. They can pitch really, really well. The Red Sox...not so much. Whether Boston's pitchers can make Tampa's lineup look good or not is another story, but we can probably at least make them look better.
Boston Red Sox (66-81)
- Pedro Ciriaco, 3B
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Cody Ross, RF
- James Loney, 1B
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, DH
- Ryan Lavarnway, C
- Scott Podsednik, LF
- Jose Iglesias, SS
Tampa Bay Rays (78-68)
- Desmond Jennings, LF
- B.J. Upton, CF
- Ben Zobrist, SS
- Matt Joyce, RF
- Luke Scott, DH
- Jeff Keppinger, 3B
- Carlos Pena, 1B
- Ryan Roberts, 2B
- Jose Molina, C