All of the talk around the Red Sox right now, for good reason, is regarding just how important this current 14-game stretch in which they will be playing either the Rays or Yankees each and every day. There’s no doubt that all of that talk is legitimate, to be fair. Although the division is likely out of reach barring an epic collapse by New York, the Red Sox need to win games and it’s harder to do that against teams like the Yankees. The Rays, meanwhile, are one of the primary contenders for one of the two wildcard spots along with Boston, Oakland and Cleveland, among a few other fringier contenders.
This is not an easily comparable Red Sox team
