(967) Tampa Bay Rays at (968) Boston Red Sox

4% 1H Boston Red Sox -129 T Bradley (RHP), N Pivetta (RHP) Must Start

The Red Sox are officially eliminated but from the playoffs but the quotes are still upbeat. Boston is one game over .500 so I feel there is still a goal left. 

"Outside our walls here, nobody expected us to play meaningful games all the way until now," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "(Our goal of making the playoffs) didn't happen, but it's a good learning experience for those kids over there. At one point it felt like we were a playoff-caliber team, and then we missed the opportunity."

"It's a good building block for next year," he said. "I'm always hungry for the next step. But what we have in this clubhouse is special. And I know there's a lot of people that don't see it, but ... I'm really happy with where we're at and what we're going to accomplish."

Boston is 8-4 their last 12 home games as a favorite or small dog.

Pivetta has a 2.49 ERA in his 4 September starts allowing 1 run or less in 3 of the 4 starts with the only exception being his lone road game. In August Pivetta had a 5+ ERA but all 4 starts were on the road.

The Rays are off a 3-game series at Detroit in which they got swept scoring only 5 total runs. The Rays bats have been dormant as they have averaged only 2.0 runs per game and 6.5 hits per game in their last 8 games.

Bradley’s road ERA is almost a full point higher and in his last 5 road starts he has tossed 27 innings allowing 20 runs.