For The Red Sox, The Hunt For October Begins Tuesday

The Boston Red Sox aren’t likely to shed any tears as they say goodbye to July. They ultimately find themselves trailing the Yankees by just a half-game, and would be in the playoffs as the Wild Card if the postseason started today.

But the month was checkered by several taxing incidents, most notably the mammoth slump suffered by more than a third of the batting order—J.D. Drew barely survived an 0-for-23 stretch and Jason Bay batted below .200 and drove in just five runs.

The revelation that David Ortiz appears on the dreaded 2003 list of those guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs, and the soap opera that swirled when Daisuke vented to the Japanese media.

Not that there’s any rest for the weary. The Red Sox are certainly not going to be able to ease into August.

The month begins with a six-game sojourn through the ballparks that house their closest rivals in a chase for a playoff spot. The Red Sox, Yankees and Rays were all built with October in mind; when the autumn rolls around, only two will still be playing.

Indeed, the season essentially begins Tuesday, when the Red Sox kick off a mini two-game series in Tampa. When you consider the new-look lineup that emerged after the trade deadline and the fact that less than a game separates the Sox and Yanks, it would seem the first four months of the season were nothing more than extended spring training.

You never want to place too much significance on a stretch as short as one week, especially during a 162-game season, but this stretch is critical for the Red Sox, and may go a long way toward foreshadowing the kind of race they can expect down the stretch.

The Sox haven’t met the Rays since the middle of May, when they were still shaking off their A.L. pennant-induced hangover. At this point they are certainly a different team, and though they didn’t make a move of any kind at the trading deadline, the time is now if they are going to make a move at a repeat playoff run. And who better as an opponent to kick-start such a change than the Red Sox?

But as important as the short set may be, it’s all just the appetizer before the main course, a four-game weekend set in the Bronx.

This could be one of the more spirited series between the teams in years. The Red Sox enter having won all eight contests thus far, a nugget the Yankees have been forced to chew on since their last game in Boston on June 11.

If that doesn’t have the Yankee faithful steamed enough, the recent revelations and media circus swarming around Ortiz are likely to crank the Yankee Stadium decibel switch to titanic levels, the likes of which we haven’t heard since Pedro called the Evil Empire his daddy.

It’s going to be fun.

And potentially revealing. It’ll be the first match-up between the Red Sox and Yankees with the lineups and rotations that will, for all intents and purposes, carry them each to the finish line. The first eight games are officially meaningless.

From a Red Sox fan perspective, you have to feel pretty good about their current position. Victor Martinez provides a presence in the lineup they haven’t had since Manny left town last July. And they still have Daniel Bard in the bullpen and Clay Buchholz in the rotation, having managed to pry Martinez from the Indians without having to give up any of their most highly-touted prospects.

If you asked me two weeks ago, I’d have rather tattooed myself with a paper clip than watch four games at Yankee Stadium. Those Red Sox wouldn’t have stood a chance. Now, I’m expecting nothing less than the latest epic series in the long-standing rivalry.

Indeed, August has only just begun. But it’s starting to feel an awful lot like October around here.