During the stretch the Red Sox were in a few weeks ago, this must feel like heaven.
They played every day from July 22 until Aug. 10. But today, they’re off for the second time in five days.
For the road-weary Sox, who went 3-3 on a six-game swing through Minnesota and Seattle, that has to feel nice.
But the grind starts again tomorrow. And it’s tough, right off the bat.
Boston hosts the Rays for a Tuesday double-header (Jon Lester and Erik Bedard will pitch), followed by the dreaded day-game-after-a-night-game Wednesday. From there, it’s on to Kansas City for four, then Texas for four, followed by three at home against Oakland.
The Rays “series,” though, is the big one. Three games in two days is always rough — and it’s rougher against a hated divisional opponent in the middle of a pennant race. Tampa Bay is a nonfactor in the AL East this year (free agency will do that), but they’d surely love to leave Boston having put the Sox in a hole.
The Rays have already done a bit of that this year. The Sox are just 4-4 against Tampa Bay on the season, and they’ve surrendered more runs (39) than they’ve scored (30) in those contests.
