Red Sox-Rays is tied 1-1 as the series heads to Boston, while the White Sox look to stave off elimination at home on Sunday night.
So far, the series between the Red Sox and Rays is living up to the expectations of a tight matchup between two AL East beast teams. They’re knotted at a game apiece as the series heads to Boston. Nobody can finish off the series today, but either team would sure rather take a 2-1 lead than fall into a 1-2 hole.
Later in the evening, the White Sox try to avoid being swept by the Astros. Their division has been cursed in the postseason in recent seasons. Teams from the AL Central are 1-14 in the playoffs going back to 2018. Pretty bad! Here’s the schedule for today:
Rays at Red Sox, 4:07 ET, MLB Network
If Friday’s MLB Network telecast of an ALDS game is any indication, there will be a whole lot of old men whining about modern baseball during the course of this game.
Astros at White Sox, 8:07 ET, FS1
If the White Sox are able to win this game, there will be four games on the calendar for tomorrow. If they can’t, well, there will still be three. That’s not bad, still a recipe for a long day of playoff baseball, if you want to watch that much playoff baseball.
Starting lineups for the early game:
Tampa Bay Rays
- Brandon Lowe – 2B
- Wander Franco – SS
- Austin Meadows – LF
- Nelson Cruz – DH
- Ji-Man Choi – 1B
- Randy Arozarena – RF
- Kevin Kiermaier – CF
- Mike Zunino – C
- Joey Wendle – 3B
Drew Rasmussen gets the start for the Rays, for however long they want to keep him in the game.
Boston Red Sox
- Kyle Schwarber – 1B
- Enrique Hernandez – CF
- Rafael Devers – 3B
- Xander Bogaerts – SS
- Alex Verdugo – LF
- J.D. Martinez – DH
- Hunter Renfroe – RF
- Kevin Plawecki – C
- Christian Arroyo – 2B
Boston turns to Nathan Eovaldi to try to get the 2-1 edge.