Projo Sox Blog

Click the play button below to hear Sean McAdam's comments, recorded this morning. The topics: Tampa Bay's need to get a win at Fenway Park, last night's injury to B.J. Upton, Jon Lester vs. Josh Beckett (who is your ALDS Game One starter?) and tonight's encounter with Scott Kazmir.

Here's what Sean said about the Rays:
"I think that last night's loss for Tampa was the result of a great effort by Jon Lester, and they can accept that. But the fact of the matter is, time is running out for them if they're going to win a game here and prove something to themselves in the event that these two teams meet up in October in the ALCS. I think for the Rays' confidence and mental well-being, they need to get one of these next two here, or else it becomes something that kind of hangs over them."

And about Lester's chances of starting Game One of a playoff series:
"I think Beckett is the guy who would open a postseason series, but I'm also pretty certain that Lester would be the guy in Game Two, even though it's quite likely that Daisuke Matsuzaka is going to finish with better numbers statistically. ... I think the combination of Lester being left-handed, the consistency he's shown, the ability to go deeper in games -- all those things make him a very important guy here in October. But I still think -- out of respect for what Beckett has done in the past and his two strong postseasons, one here and one in Florida in 2003 -- he's still the number-one guy, particularly now that he's proven himself to be healthy."

 Tags  Jon Lester Josh Beckett Sean McAdam SoxTalk Tampa Bay Rays

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