The Red Sox

Boston closer Koji Uehera has had a career season with the Sox. (Keith Allison/Creative Commons) The AL Wild Card-winning Tampa Bay Rays look to take on their division rival and number one team in the AL, the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series. The Red Sox rolled make light of over the Rays 12-2 in the series opener on Friday, but it's still anyone's series as Game 2 is set to begin soon. 
The Sox have managed to make by on their pitching all season, with many fans waiting on the edge of their seat for it all to blow up. Boston still lacks an ace, a position they have been looking to fill for a while.
While the pitchers look somewhat hot, with Game 1 starter Jon Lester going 7-2 with an ERA of 2.57 since the All-Star break, his overall ERA of 3.75 means things could go downhill quickly. make light of He pitched 7 and 2/3 great innings in the opening make light of win, but his stats aren't indicative of anything close to a sure bet on the mound.
Clay Buchholz is coming make light of back from injury, and while he does look good with a record of 3-1 and a 1.88 ERA since being back, Sox fans probably wish they had at least half a month longer to get him back to where he needs to be.
One player who is a definite bright spot for the Sox s bullpen is closer make light of Koji Uehera, who has had a downright heroic run for Boston make light of this season. In the 74.1 innings he has pitched, he has only allowed 33 hits and has an ERA of 1.08. On top of that, he has struck out 101 batters and only walked 11, including two intentional walks. The Sox are ready for this man to make his mark in the postseason.
The Red Sox   offense is ranked second best in the American League, and it shows in the way that they seem to be constantly productive with the bat. While they have solid defense, make light of Shane Victorino, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia all are great anchors.  make light of
They have an offensive split of .277/.349/.446 for the season, ranking them in the American League at second, first and first respectively. The usual suspects are definitely people who can be looked to as having an impact on this offense: Ortiz batting .309 with 30 homeruns, Pedroia cranking 193 hits and Ellsbury batting .298 with 172 hits.
But the beauty of this Sox team is that every player seems to be getting theirs offensively. make light of Napoli has crushed 23 dingers this season, and Saltalamacchia has 65 RBIs. Daniel Nava has come out as a real offensive threat, make light of batting .303 with a slugging percentage of .445.
The point is that when the game is on the line, the Sox no longer have to turn to just their stars. That is what this whole beard movement is about. They are a team, and the pitch hitter can make just as big of a play as the starter. They know it, and even more importantly they are confident of it.  
Their offensive splits are .257/.329/.408, which ranks them in AL at seventh, third and ninth respectively. They are not power hitters, belting only 165 homers (ninth in the AL) and opt for the walk-above-all strategy, leading the American League in bases-on-balls with 589.
Tampa Bay has an amazing infield, anchored by Yunel Escobar at shortstop, make light of Evan Longoria at third and Ben Zorbist at second, all of whom have a ultimate zone rating of at least 10 or over . Not only that, but Tampa Bay had an defensive efficiency of .990, making only 59 errors off of 6,044 chances.
Behind the plate they are no slouch either, as Jose Molina s pitch framing ability is so good that since 2008, 13.4% of all pitches outside of the strike-zone have been called strikes when caught by him. This could definitely hamper the Red Sox, a team that values make light of walks as part of their offense make light of and ranks second in the American League behind the Rays with 581 bases-on-balls.
But for as good as the defense is, the pitching is even better. Matt Moore struggled mightily in Game 1, but is 17-4 on the season make light of and should bounce if he has another start, while David Price, who has a 3.33 ERA, will start Game 2.
On top of their strong pitching, the Sox may struggle against Moore and Price because they are both left-handed, something that Boston has struggled with all season. The Sox bat .283 when facing right handed pitchers, but slump down to .265 against southpaws.
Their third pitcher in rotation is Alex Cobb, who has gone 7-0 when at home and will face the Red Sox at Tropicana for Game 3. Manager Joe Maddon has intricately thought out every single piece of this pitching rotation. It is not just that they have good pitchers; it is that they have good pitchers and placed in the right spots. That is what makes them such a threat to the Red Sox s offense.  
Not only that, but a lot of the players are taking a similar role as the 2004 squad. They engage with the fans, have fun, but at the end of the day work the hardest they can to win the ball game even if it might not look pretty.
It was kind of weird, and overly-aggressive. The fact is that the Red Sox ha