The Boston Red Sox (39-25) and Tampa Bay Rays (34-28) begin their series at Tropicana Field on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN, the WatchESPN app and ESPN3.com, as well as on MLB.com with a paid subscription.
The Rays have given Red Sox pitcher John Lackey (3-5) trouble in recent years and will face the right-hander on Monday. Lackey looks to have his fifth straight strong start after coming off a six inning performance in which he allowed no earned runs in a no decision.
Boston has won six of eight after winning two games in their three game homestand with the Angels this past weekend. They capitalized off of two home runs from Jarrod Saltalamacchia and David Ortiz 14th homer of the season in a 10-5 victory on Sunday.
"This is a great clubhouse, a great group of guys. It starts with the top and works its way down," Saltalamacchia said. "Everybody knows their role and everybody knows what approach to take, which makes things easier. We've got a good group of veterans with a good group of young guys.
"It's a lot of fun, especially being in first place, but we know we have to focus on tomorrow."
The Rays had won 10 of 13 before a disappointing performance from Matt Moore in which the pitcher allowed a career-worst nine runs and 12 hits in five innings of a 10-7 to the Orioles on Sunday.
Tampa Bay will look to rebound with Alex Cobb (6-2, 2.39 ERA) on the hill. Cobb is 0-1 against Boston this season but holds an impressive 2.77 ERA in two starts.
Cobb has performed well in his last four starts, going 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA. He allowed five hits in 7 2/3 innings of a 3-0 win at Detroit on Thursday after missing his previous start due to a cut finger on his throwing hand.
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