Red Sox: 3 keys to beating the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS

Red Sox bats must strike early and often

Keeping up with a powerful Rays lineup is no easy task but it becomes even more challenging the longer you wait to get your own bats going.

The Rays have a solid rotation but they lack a true workhorse ace that instills fear into opposing lineups. Shane McClanahan will take the hill for Game 1 on the heels of a strong regular season that saw him produce a 10-6 record and 3.43 ERA. The rookie is untested in the playoffs though, plus his 123 1/3 innings doesn’t exactly scream front-line starter. Shane Baz will start in Game 2 and he only made three appearances all season so he probably won’t stick around very long.

Tampa Bay’s rotation ranked a respectable 14th in the majors with a collective 4.08 ERA. That’s moderately better than a Red Sox rotation that ranked 17th with a 4.49 ERA. The Rays staff benefits from playing half their games in a pitcher-friendly park though. Boston’s 3.87 FIP from their starters edges out the 3.98 FIP from the Rays rotation.

That bullpen though – they are elite. Tampa Bay relievers were the best in the AL and third-best in the majors with a 3.24 ERA. They logged more innings than any other bullpen in baseball and led the majors with 7.9 fWAR.

Andrew Kittredge was one of the league’s most dominant relievers, posting a sparkling 1.65 ERA while ranking 7th in the AL with 1.7 fWAR. Collin McHugh (1.3 fWAR), Matt Wisler (1.1 fWAR) and Pete Fairbanks (1.0 fWAR) all ranked within the top-30 AL relievers.

The Rays can shorten a game better than any team. They won’t give their starters a long leash and their bullpen is capable of locking down the final several innings. If you don’t get to them early, good luck making a comeback late in the game.

Fortunately, the Red Sox are capable of putting runs on the board early. Boston led the AL with 114 runs scored in the first inning this season and 107 runs in the second inning. The Red Sox were fourth in the  majors in runs scored and second with a .804 OPS between innings 1-6 .

Jumping out to an early lead will be pivotal for the Red Sox in this series. You don’t want to be trailing late with your playoff lives clinging to the hope of rallying against this gauntlet of relievers.