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Rays End Crucial Series With Red Sox

The Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox end a four-game series Sunday afternoon from Fenway Park in Boston. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. (ET).

The Sox currently own a four-game lead over Tampa Bay for the wildcard spot with only 13 games left in the regular season. Boston still has its eyes set on winning the division from the New York Yankees, who lead the Red Sox by 3.5 games.

The Red Sox have dropped six of their last seven games to the Rays as of the third game of their weekend series Saturday afternoon. Boston has lost 11 of its last 14 games since September 1 and need to stop losing these types of key matchups or they may find their way out of the playoffs in 2011.

Starting for the Rays on Sunday will be the perennial ace of their rotation and former Vanderbilt pitching stand-out David Price. Tampa Bay is 4-6 in Price’s last ten starts (-5.74 units) and the ‘under’ is 6-4 during that period.

Price’s earned run average is 0.62 points higher than it was during his 19-win season in 2010. Price has faced the Red Sox four times this season with a record of 3-1 and a 3.27 ERA.

Pitching for Boston in the finale of this series will be the veteran knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield (7-6, 5.13 ERA), who just picked up his 200th victory of his career last Tuesday. Wakefield now has the opportunity to not only pick up a very crucial victory for Boston, but also collect his 201st win in a critical portion of the Red Sox September schedule.

Wakefield has only been able to pick up one victory in his last 9 starts overall (amount of time it took him to win 200th game) and the Red Sox as a team are 1-5 in his last 6 starts. Boston is 10-2 in Wakefield’s last 12 home starts versus Tampa Bay, which makes this a very dangerous situation for the Rays.

The Red Sox are hitting .304 against lefties at home this season, which is exorbitantly better than the .274 average Boston has put up against righties.

Kevin Youkilis (hip), Connor Jackson (bruised right knee and sore left wrist) and Jed Lowrie (sore left shoulder) are currently listed as questionable for the Red Sox going into this key Sunday match up between Price and Wakefield.

The Rays also have a few injuries of their own to deal with for Sunday. Both Sam Fuld (left Wednesday’s game with a wrist injury) and Kyle Farnsworth (tenderness in his right elbow; expected to miss remainder of Boston series) are listed as questionable for Sunday’s showdown in Boston.

The Sunday afternoon forecast shows a mix of sun and clouds in Boston with highs in the upper sixties and a very small chance of rain for this American League East showdown.

Cardinals Face Philadelphia Phillies In Prime Time

The St. Louis Cardinals hope to stay hot and keep their late playoff push alive Sunday night when they play the third game of their four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Sunday’s game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will be televised nationally on ESPN at 8:05 p.m. (ET). Chris Carpenter and Cole Hamels are set to take the mound.

Philadelphia has already clinched a playoff spot, and look to be on their way to a 100-win season with the best record in baseball. While Philadelphia obviously wants to stay strong heading into the playoffs, St. Louis certainly has more to play for with their season on the line.

St. Louis (82-68) is hoping that their late push isn’t too little too late. They entered the weekend having won eight of their last nine (+8.30 units), and narrowing the gap in the Wild Card race to 3.5 games behind Atlanta and in the NL Central down to 5.5 games behind Milwaukee.

Chris Carpenter (9-9, 3.80 ERA) hasn’t pitched particularly well of late, giving up four or more runs in three of his last six games, with the Cardinals going 2-4 (-5.15 units). That said, St. Louis has won in his last two trips to the hill, including a complete game shutout against Milwaukee on September 7.

The lengthy righty holds a 6-2 record in 10 career starts against Philadelphia despite a modest 4.66 ERA against them. He was sharp in his one turn against them this season, picking up the win after giving up just one run over seven innings with seven strikeouts back on June 23.

Philadelphia (97-52) entered the weekend with the best record in the National League by a wide margin, and even a .500 record down the stretch would be enough to clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Cole Hamels (14-8, 2.71 ERA) had his worst game since returning from a short stint on the DL (shoulder inflammation) on August 29 in his last outing, giving up four earned runs in five innings to the Houston Astros. In the other three games since his return, he had held opponents to three runs or less, so it appears to just be an off-day.

Hamels has pitched well against the Cardinals throughout his career, holding a 3.00 ERA against them over eight career starts. This will be his first start against St. Louis in 2011.

Including Friday night’s win in the series opener, St. Louis has won four of the six games between these two teams this year. The total has trended ‘under’ at 4-2.

Philadelphia has been a solid betting option everywhere this season, including at home where they are 51-23 (+12.95 units). St. Louis has been a profitable road team at 41-34 (+6.85 units).

Ryan Howard is dealing with a sore ankle and may not play in Sunday’s game. Matt Holliday is out indefinitely with a finger injury.

Clear skies are expected Sunday night with light winds of up to 6 mph. Kyle Lohse and Roy Halladay will start in the series finale on Monday.

Week 2 Preview: Buccaneers at Vikings

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (0-1)

at MINNESOTA VIKINGS (0-1)


Kickoff: Sunday, 1:00 p.m. EDT
Line: Minnesota -3, Total: 41

Tampa had plenty of success on the road a year ago, and they can keep that trend going when they visit Minnesota on Sunday.

The Bucs went 6-2 SU and 7-0-1 ATS away from home last year, and the Vikins seem ripe for a home upset. Minnesota is coming off an ugly opener in San Diego, in which they were outgained 407-187. QB Donovan McNabb, making his Vikings debut, threw for 39 yards. The Vikes dropped back 17 times and had 28 net passing yards. Tampa certainly won’t give up another 300-yard passing day like they did in their opener, which did them in against Detroit. Their major concern will be Vikings RB Adrian Peterson. The Bucs struggled against the run a year ago and allowed 126 rush yards to a Detroit team that lacks a power runner. But even if Peterson has a big day, Tampa has the weapons around QB Josh Freeman to beat a Vikings defense that, among other issues, is breaking in a new defensive line. TAMPA BAY is the pick.

The FoxSheets have a three-star trend that works against the Vikings as well:

Play Against - Home teams where the line is +3 to -3 (MINNESOTA) - off a road loss, team that had a losing record last season. (48-17 since 1983, 73.8%, +29.3 units. Rating = 3*).

Sunday, September 18

Game Score Status Pick Amount

Seattle - 1:00 PM ET Seattle +14 500
Pittsburgh - Under 39.5 500

Baltimore - 1:00 PM ET Baltimore -5.5 500
Tennessee - Under 38.5 500

Jacksonville - 1:00 PM ET N.Y. Jets -9.5 500
N.Y. Jets - Over 38 500

Arizona - 1:00 PM ET Washington -4 500
Washington - Over 44 500

Oakland - 1:00 PM ET Oakland +4 500
Buffalo - Over 41 500

Tampa Bay - 1:00 PM ET Tampa Bay +1 500
Minnesota - Over 41 500

Chicago - 1:00 PM ET New Orleans -4.5 500
New Orleans - Over 47.5 500

Green Bay - 1:00 PM ET Carolina +10 500
Carolina - Under 44.5 500

Cleveland - 1:00 PM ET Cleveland -1 500
Indianapolis - Over 39.5 500

Kansas City - 1:00 PM ET Kansas City +9 500
Detroit - Over 45 500

Dallas - 4:05 PM ET Dallas -3 500
San Francisco - Over 41 500

Cincinnati - 4:15 PM ET Cincinnati +3.5 500
Denver - Over 41 500

Houston - 4:15 PM ET Miami +3 500
Miami - Over 47.5 500

San Diego - 4:15 PM ET New England -7 500
New England - Over 53 500