While I write this, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox are both in action Tuesday night in each team’s second to last game of the 2011 Major League Baseball season. The Rays lead the Yankees by a score of 2-1 in the top of the third; the Sox meanwhile lead the Orioles by the same score in the bottom half of the third.
In the event that the two AL East squads finished with identical records by the end of Wednesday night’s action, they’ll meet in a one-game tiebreaker. Not long ago early Tuesday evening, MLB announced the exact date and time of when that one-game playoff would be.
If the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays finish tied after the end of the regular season tomorrow, a one-game playoff for the AL wild card spot will take place Sept. 29
The first pitch would be at 4:07 p.m. at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Sounds plenty favorable for Joe Maddon’s surging Rays, but first things first. A win tonight, and a win Wednesday night. If the Rays do that, then a playoff might not even be necessary given how poorly the Red Sox have been playing this month. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the evening and the remainder of the week while we see how this wild and crazy AL Wild Card race sorts itself out.