Boston @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 27, 2014 ) Boston 3, Tampa Bay 2

The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays met in the American League Divisional Series last October and almost 11 months later they sit at the bottom of the AL East. The fourth-place Rays try to keep their dim playoff hopes alive when they host the cellar-dwelling Red Sox for the first of four contests Friday, beginning a 10-game homestand. Tampa Bay comes in off a 3-4 road trip where Evan Longoria notched 10 hits, including two homers, and knocked in nine runs to give him a team-high 76.

The Rays, who are eight games back in the race for the AL's second wild card, are the only team in the majors with a better record on the road (36-33) than at home (29-36). The Rays have held Red Sox slugger David Ortiz to a .190 average this season, but he has knocked in eight runs in 12 games. Boston has dropped nine of its last 11 overall, but took two of three at Toronto earlier in the week.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET; NESN (Boston), Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox RH Anthony Ranaudo (2-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Rays RH Chris Archer (8-6, 3.09)

Ranaudo has won his first two major-league starts against the New York Yankees and Cincinnati 12 days apart while allowing six runs over 12 innings. The 24-year-old New Jersey native allowed 12 hits, walked five and struck out only three in those outings. Ranaudo, a first-round pick in 2010, was 14-4 with a 2.61 ERA in 24 starts while surrendering 112 hits in 138 innings at Triple-A Pawtucket.

Archer suffered just one loss in his last 10 outings and that was against the Red Sox at home when he yielded three runs over six innings on July 27. The North Carolina native is 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA in five August starts and has permitted only six homers in 157 1/3 innings. Ortiz is 5-for-12 with a homer and eight RBIs versus Archer, who owns a 4.75 ERA and 1-3 record in six career outings against Boston.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Rays have won five of six games against Boston at home this season, outscoring the Red Sox 26-17.

2. Boston OF Yoenis Cespedes, acquired from Oakland at the trade deadline, is 12-for-29 with eight RBIs in his last nine games

3. Tampa Bay CF Desmond Jennings is 9-for-28 during his six-game hitting streak with two of his 30 doubles – one shy of his career high in 2013.

PREDICTION: Rays 6, Red Sox 1