Never ones to just copy what the other teams do, the Red Sox are up 2-0 in the ALDS, while all the other teams have at least one loss so far this postseason. They carved up Matt Moore in Game 1 behind an excellent Jon Lester and decided it would be a good idea to give John Lackey some run support in Game 2, this being the playoffs and all. They knocked David Price around for 7 runs, including two taters for Big Papi. They head to Tampa with a chance to deliver the knockout blow tomorrow night with Clay Buchholz on the mound. They are in the most enviable position of all 2013 postseason teams so far.
That doesn't mean that they can just show up tomorrow night at the Trop and expect to win just by virtue of their presence. They still have to play a baseball game there (hopefully just one). Sometimes the games we as fans think will be the easiest for the team to win end up being the hardest and lead to a frustrating and disappointing loss. The Rays are not a team that's likely to go down quietly and allowing them back into the series could be very dangerous for the Red Sox from a momentum perspective. Do they really want to have to beat Matt Moore or David Price twice?
That said, I have a great deal of confidence that the Red Sox will win this series. They have a deeper team overall than the Rays, with a talented bench with the likes of Mike Carp, Daniel Nava/Jonny Gomes, David Ross, Xander Bogaerts, and Quintin Berry. They have a one-game-at-a-time mindset that will serve them well and this series and, should they advance, beyond.
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