Tampa Bay Rays 97-65, AL East champs; beat White Sox in four games
97-65, AL East Champions; Beat White Sox in Four Games
Tampa Bay won eight out of nine games against Boston at Tropicana Field in the regular season.
(By Chris O'meara -- Associated Press)
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What We've Learned
· That their pitching may be the deepest in the playoffs, from a four-deep rotation to a bullpen (0.77 ERA in ALDS) full of shut-down arms, even if they lack a true closer.
· That they are practically unbeatable at home, where they had the best record in baseball this season -- including 8-1 against the Red Sox.
· That they may not have a dominating hitter (none with an OPS above .900), but they also don't have any easy outs among starters (only SS Jason Bartlett is below .700).
What We Still Don't Know
· Whether they can hit left-handed pitchers. They ranked next-to-last in the AL (.246) in the regular season but did better against Chicago's Mark Buehrle and John Danks in the ALDS. The Red Sox have one left-handed starter (Lester) and two in the bullpen (Hideki Okajima, Javier López).
· Whether Rocco Baldelli, Gabe Gross or Jonny Gomes will get the bulk of the playing time in right field. The Rays got just two singles from their right fielders in the ALDS.
· Whether Dan Wheeler can continue to be effective as a ninth-inning option.
