And down the stretch we come

Tonight will be the 456th consecutive regular season game the Red Sox have sold out, breaking the previous record of 455 held by the Cleveland Indians. I was at #455, when the Sox bunted their way to victory over the O’s. Here is the Quality Start Report look at where we are with only 20 games left in the season.

The Sox v. Rays series starts tonight. Sox trail by only 1.5 games in the AL East. Interesting, the teams are tied with 73 quality starts on the season to date (note: Rays have played one fewer game).

• Game 1 – Edwin Jackson (13 QS, 48% of starts) v. Jon Lester (17 QS, 59%). Advantage: Sox
• Game 2 – Scott Kazmir (11 QS, 48%) v. DiceK (13 QS, 52%). Advantage: Sox
• Game 3- Andy Sonnestine (10 QS, 36%) v. Josh Beckett (14 QS, 54%). Advantage: Sox

Jon Lester faces Edwin Jackson at the start of the critical series at Fenway tonight!

The winner of this series will be the one that gets the best starting pitching. Coming in, the Red Sox look to have the advantage and the momentum. The Sox are fortunate to miss James Shields, who has 20 quality starts (69%), the best number on both staffs.

Head-to-head in 2008, the Sox and Rays have split 12 games, with the home team winning every single game. The Sox have had 7 quality starts in 12 games, the Rays only 4. The Rays have won each game with a quality start, including beating the Sox 3 times when the Sox’ starter has gotten a quality start. The Rays have not gotten a single quality start in six games at Fenway (3 by the Sox).

In addition to this series at Fenway, the Sox and Rays will face off next week for 3 more at the Trop. Here is a look at the remaining games on the schedule for each team:

• Rays (21): home – Bos (3), Min (4). away – Bos (3), NYY (3), Bal (4), Det (4)
• Sox (20): home – Rays (3), Tor (4), Cle (4), NYY (3). away – Rays (3), Tor (3)

Analysis – The Sox have struggled with at the Trop (0-6) and against Toronto (4-7) all season long. So, this combination of 10 games, half of those remaining, is ominous. The Rays have struggled at Fenway (0-6) and against the NYY (6-9), but have dominated the Orioles (11-3) and Detroit (3-0). While past performance may not be indicative of future results, it would seem that the Rays have a more favorable schedule than the Sox as both clubs are battling it out for the AL East crown. The advantage goes to either team that gets to 4 wins in the last 6 between the 2 clubs.

Personally, I am looking forward to tonight at the Fens with personal favorite Lester taking the ball for the Sox and . Both Lester and the Rays starter Edwin Jackson have 4 quality starts in his last 5 starts.