Tampa Bay Rays: It's Now Or Never

After 130 games it really comes down to this. A series win won't do the trick. A sweep is required. A losing series and you can start playing the youngsters.

When the Tampa Bay Rays host the Boston Red Sox for the next three days, only one outcome can occur. Tampa Bay must sweep the Red Sox or this season may be over.

Oh sure, mathematically, they may still be alive. At five games back, anything can happen. However as each game clicks off the schedule, the Rays step closer to the abyss.

After blowing a winnable game to the Detroit Tigers yesterday, Carl Crawford said, "We can't afford to lose games like the one we lost today. We're getting close to the line where we are going to be eliminated."

They feel the urgency. They understand where they are and where they need to go.

It won't be easy. After Boston, Tampa Bay gets another three games against AL Central leading Detroit then they head back on the road to face perhaps the best team in baseball—the New York Yankees—and another three game series in Boston. Knowing the road isn't exactly been friendly to Tampa Bay, these next three become as "must win" as you get in baseball.

Take two out of three, you only gain a game in the standings and basically continue to spin your wheels. Drop two out of three and you fall further behind and are all but buried. Get swept and its pretty much over.

Sweep Boston and suddenly you're right back into the thick of things, just two games back.

Can they do it? Tampa Bay has won eight of the 12 meetings with Boston this season and are 5-1 at home against the Red Sox.

Still, with Scott Kazmir shipped off to the Angels, the Rays will lean on Andy Sonnanstine to fill the void. Sonnanstine was Tampa Bay's leader in victories last season but 2009 has been a nightmare; he was 6-7 with a 6.61 ERA before being shipped down to Triple A Durham.

Sonnanstine did beat the Red Sox this season and is undefeated at Tropicana Field (5-0). Sonnanstine will face Jon Lester, who is 0-2 with a 8.22 ERA against Tampa Bay in 2009.

Game two has the marquee matchup of Matt Garza vs. Josh Beckett. Garza saves his best stuff for Boston, going 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA against the Red Sox this season. Beckett, like other Boston hurlers, has struggled against the Rays, going 1-1 with a 5.60 ERA.

The rubber match will have young stud David Price going against Boston's Clay Buckholtz. Price is 6-2 at home and is 1-0 against Boston this season. Buckholtz has not faced the Rays and is a .500 pitcher on the road.

The Rays have been meandering about all season without a sense of urgency. Now that the calendar has switched to September, it's really now or never time for Tampa Bay.

Sweep the Red Sox and the dream lives. Fail and it may be a swan song.