After splitting a pair of games in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Rays go to Boston looking to regain control of their ALDS and will need to get to former Tampa Bay starter Nathan Eovaldi to do so.
Eovaldi has a lifetime 1.63 ERA in the postseason and the Red Sox are 6-1 when he pitches in the postseason. The lone defeat was Game 3 of the 2018 World Series, when he pitched six innings out of the bullpen against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 3-2, 18-inning Boston loss.
On the other side, Drew Rasmussen has been one of the most effective starting pitchers in the AL since being brought into the rotation in mid-August. In his last eight starts, he has a 1.42 ERA in 37 innings, while allowing one home run and two runs or fewer in all eight starts.
The Rays back up Rasmussen with a bullpen that ranks third this year in ERA and has a 3.21 ERA since the All-Star break. The Red Sox’s bullpen, in contrast, is 21st in ERA since the break, at 4.49.
The Rays are 12-5 in their last 17 games against the Red Sox, including this
postseason, and 3-1 in games in which Rasmussen pitches against Boston, a trend that will continue in Game 3 on Sunday.
The play: Rays, -105 moneyline.