• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Red Sox-Rays Preview

Sep 3, 2009 - 6:19 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Boston (77-55) at Tampa Bay (72-60), 7:08 p.m. EDT

Tampa Bay is doing all it can to help remind the Boston Red Sox that it's still very much in the hunt for the AL wild card.

The Rays hope to further cut into the Red Sox's wild-card lead with a second straight victory to take the three-game series between the clubs on Thursday night at Tropicana Field.

Pat Burrell homered and snapped an eighth-inning tie with an RBI single while Evan Longoria followed with a two-run homer to help Tampa Bay (72-60) even the set with an 8-5 victory Wednesday.

The Rays, who improved to 9-5 against Boston (77-55) this season, are third in the wild-card race, five games behind the Red Sox, who are 2 1/2 ahead of second-place Texas.

"Every time we play the Red Sox, it's kind of like this. ... They're playing for something, we're playing for something. I love it. Our guys love it," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Tampa Bay concludes the season series at Fenway Park next weekend.

"They play us tough. I think selfishly when we won (Tuesday night) it was kind of a safety net knowing the worst we could do is give up one game," Boston's Jason Bay said.

"That's a good team and they always play us tough, so I think it's a just a little reminder that it ain't over yet. Ultimately, we still like the spot we're in."

Carl Crawford also homered for the Rays, who despite going 3-4 since winning eight of 10, are looking forward to the stretch run.

"We're in the mix of things," Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena said. "It's really exciting to think about the upcoming games that we have. We're very optimistic."

The Rays could have a chance if Longoria stays hot. The third baseman is batting .409 with two homers in his last five games. One shy of matching the 27 home runs he had in his 2008 rookie season, Longoria is batting .362 with eight homers and 26 RBIs against Boston this season.

Longoria, though, is 0 for 5 against Boston's scheduled starter Clay Buchholz (3-3, 4.38 ERA).

Buchholz is coming off one his better outings, allowing one run and three hits while striking out a season-high nine in 8 1-3 innings to earn the win in a 3-2 victory over Toronto on Saturday.

"I actually think when he establishes his fastball and makes hitters respect that, it makes his changeup that much better and you start adding two breaking balls for strikes, it gives them a lot of different looks," Boston manager Terry Francona said of the right-hander, who's 1-1 with a 2.03 ERA against Tampa Bay.

The Rays counter with David Price (7-6, 4.63), who's also coming off a strong effort after giving up one run in 7 1-3 innings to earn the win in a 3-1 victory at Detroit on Saturday.

"It was good to get David rolling in the right direction," Maddon said.

The left-hander, who's 6-2 with a 2.96 ERA in nine home starts, earned the win in his only start against the Red Sox by allowing two runs in six innings of a 6-4 victory Aug. 5.

Bay and Victor Martinez have each homered off Price and both drove in a run Wednesday for Boston, which has lost twice in nine games.

Martinez is hitting .313 with 20 RBIs in 29 games since being traded to Boston from Cleveland. He's batting .396 with 13 RBIs against the Rays this season.