Tampa Bay Rays Beat Boston Red Sox to Edge Closer to Wild Card

The Boston Red Sox have nearly given up their wild card birth in the American League to the Tampa Bay Rays. As the teams played a head to head series over the last few days winning has never been more important for a team that has lost 11 of its last 14. The Rays do not want to miss the postseason any more than the Red Sox and won the game 8-5.

The Rays starter David Price had a ball off Mike Aviles hit him in the shoulder during his outing but the Rays were able to get the out at first and preserve their 3-0 lead. Price finished the inning on a Adrian Gonzalez grounder and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for tests before joining the team for the train ride to their next series in New York.

The Red Sox have given up seven games in the wild card race in the last 16 days. With only 10 games left to play, seven of which are against the lowly Orioles, they should still be able to make the playoffs, but the Rays aren't quitting.

The game may have been decided by the Red Sox starting pitcher, knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Wakefield's signature pitch was not fooling the Rays but was giving catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia fits as passed balls allowed Tampa Bay runners to advance throughout the night. He gave the Rays six runs, only two of which were earned, and hit one batter.