Young Rays franchise not new to the playoffs

For a franchise founded barely two decades ago, the Rays already have a fair amount of playoff history with the Red Sox. 

Tampa Bay reached its seventh postseason overall and third straight by capturing the American League East title. The Rays won an even 100 games while distancing Boston and the Yankees by a comfortable margin. Tampa Bay will be attempting to go one step further after losing its second World Series appearance in 2020, this time against the Dodgers. 

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The Red Sox didn’t stand in their way last year, but Thursday night’s first pitch in Game 1 of the A.L. Division Series will match the franchise with the Rays for the third time in October. Boston was the defending champion when it fell to Tampa Bay in seven games in the 2008 A.L Championship Series. The Red Sox were on their way to the third of their four titles this century when they eliminated the Rays in the 2013 ALDS. 

“They are a very clean team, to be honest,” Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. “They score a lot of runs. They might not have the names that some of the other teams have but they don't make a lot of mistakes.” 

Bogaerts was able to look ahead following an electric Tuesday night at Fenway Park. Boston wrapped up the A.L. Wild Card berth thanks to a 6-2 victory over the Yankees. Bogaerts smashed a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and the Red Sox played one of their most complete games of the season in dismissing New York. 

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“We've just got to be ready to face a great baseball team,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Probably, coming into the season, everybody talked about them being the best team in the big leagues. We have a huge challenge, but we're ready for it.” 

Boston’s familiarity with Tampa Bay now goes well beyond their 19 annual meetings as A.L. East foes. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom spent 15 years in the Rays front office prior to his October 2019 hiring in Boston. Bloom is part of the growing Tampa Bay front office tree throughout the sport, the root of which now resides in Los Angeles. 

Andrew Friedman has served as the president of baseball operations with the Dodgers since October 2014. The club snapped its 32-year title drought last season by outlasting the Rays in six games. Player development, talent acquisition and financial muscle were successfully melded to deliver Los Angeles its first crown since Kirk Gibson famously limped around the bases against the Athletics. 

Bloom, James Click in Houston, Alex Anthopoulos in Atlanta and Farhan Zaidi in San Francisco are all top baseball executives in their respective organizations who cut their teeth in the Tropicana Field offices. All four have helped build postseason clubs in 2021. Their on-field influence was apparent Tuesday, as Cora wasted no time replacing starter Nathan Eovaldi and going to his bullpen. 

“I understand the situation,” Eovaldi said. “Third time through the lineup, it's tough. Batters seeing you for the third time, they have a better understanding of what you're going to do and a better idea of how you're going to attack them.” 

Eovaldi had thrown just 71 pitches and struck out eight against no walks in 5⅓ innings. His line was almost identical to Blake Snell in Game 6 of the World Series last year. The left-hander — now with the Padres — allowed just two hits and struck out nine against no walks while taking a 1-0 lead into the sixth. 

“When I went to the mound, he gave me this look like, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Cora said. “But it's just such a tough game to manage. We felt our bullpen was ready to get the rest of game.” 

Unlike Eovaldi, Snell’s bullpen couldn’t finish the job. Nick Anderson allowed an inherited run to score and gave up one of his own. Pete Fairbanks surrendered a leadoff solo homer to Mookie Betts in the eighth and the Dodgers stole the clinching 3-1 victory. Snell was critical of the decision and Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash absorbed a heavy dose of public blame following the defeat. 

bkoch@providencejournal.com  

On Twitter: @BillKoch25