Once up by nine games in the AL Wild Card race, the Boston Red Sox need a win on the 2011 MLB season's final day of the regular season to ensure their World Series dreams stay alive. But all they need to do to get that win is beat the lowly Baltimore Orioles.
Boston will send ace Jon Lester to the mound against the Orioles, who will counter with Alfredo Simon. Lester has only faced Baltimore once in 2011, but shut them down, allowing two earned runs in eight innings in a 6-2 win in April.
If the Red Sox win, they are guaranteed no worse than a one-game playoff for the AL Wild Card spot against the Tampa Bay Rays; with a loss, they must hope the Rays fall to the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
Game date, time: 7:05 p.m. ET, Wednesday, September 29, 2011
Location: Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
TV channel: ESPN, MASN
For further reading, news, discussion and more, visit Red Sox blog Over the Monster and Orioles blog Camden Chat. Check out Baseball Nation's AL Wild Card race and NL Wild Card race StoryStreams from Tuesday for more.