Rays Excite Baseball Fans Everywhere Except There

Orioles Vs. Red Sox: Boston Stays In Wild Card Tie With Win In Baltimore

The Red Sox knocked off the Orioles Tuesday night, meaning the American League Wild Card remains deadlocked headed into the final day.

Rays vs. Yankees: Homers And Triple Play Key Tampa Bay's 5-3 Win

Rays Turn Critical Triple Play, Stay Close

A triple-play in the sixth-inning helped get the Rays out of a bases-loaded jam.

Rays' Kotchman Hospitalized With Chest Tightness

Yankees Vs. Rays, AL Wild Card Race Preview: Time, TV Schedule, Starting Pitchers And More

The Rays will be relying on the young arm of Jeremy Hellickson as they face the Yankees with a chance to move into the Wild Card lead.

Angels' Playoff Run Ends With 4-3 Loss To Rangers

Red Sox Making History, But Not The Kind They'd Want

Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays Officially All Tied Up For Wild Card

Monday came, Monday went, and with two days remaining in the regular season, the American League has a tie atop the Wild Card standings.

The Red Sox Might Have Saved Their Season... But The Rays And Angels Cling To Wild Card Hope

Red Sox Beat Yankees In 14 Innings, Hold One-Game Lead In AL Wild Card Race

AL Wild-Card Update: Red Sox Lose First Game Of Doubleheader, Rays Win

Angels Stay Alive In Wild Card Race With 4-2 Win Over Athletics

The Los Angeles Angels picked up a game in the AL Wild Card standings with a 4-2 win over the Oakland A's.

Tampa Bay Rays Close In On Wild Card With 6-2 Win Over Jays

With a win and a Boston loss on Saturday, Tampa Bay pulled to within 1½ games of the Wild Card lead with four days remaining.

Red Sox Blown Out By Yankees, Wild Card Lead Shrinks

After losing to the Yankees, Saturday evening -- well, getting destroyed by the Yankees, but fortunately 9-1 losses count the same as all the others in the standings -- the Boston Red Sox are now 5-17 in September.

As one wag observed, the 1962 New York Mets went 6-18 in September.

Jon Lester, Boston's nominal co-ace, started for the Red Sox and got knocked out in the third inning, charged with eight runs. The big blow was Derek Jeter's three-run homer, but there were plenty of other blows.

The bullpen came up big, giving up just one run the rest of the way. But that meant nothing, because Boston's hitters could manage just a single run against Freddy Garcia and a quintet of Yankee reliefers.

This contest meant little or nothing to the Yankees, who have already clinched yet another American League East title.

It meant something to the Red Sox. Still hoping to avoid what would rank as one of the more dramatic collapses in major-league history, Boston's loss left them with a two-game lead in the Wild Card standings, pending later action featuring the Rays and Angels, who entered the day trailing by 2½ and 3½ games, respectively.

This series concludes Sunday with a day-night doubleheader, at the end of which the Red Sox might find themselves in a Wild Card tie, or they might find themselves four games ahead of their nearest competition. What's likely is something between those extremes, and at this point something in the middle would look pretty good, considering how poorly the Sox have played this month.