Live Major League action continues on Tuesday night with a top of the division clash at Fenway Park between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox.

Tampa Bay Rays (44-31) @ Boston Red Sox (46-31) - bet on this game at BlueSq

A lot has changed since the last time Tampa Bay visited Fenway Park. On April 19^th the Rays were flying high at the top of the American League East while the Red Sox were wondering exactly what was going on. Over two months later and its Tampa Bay who are struggling, especially on the road where the team have lost eight of its last eleven games and overall find themselves in third in the division behind the Sox and the Yankees. On the mound for the Rays tonight will be James Shields who put in a quality start last time he faced Boston, going eight innings and only giving up two earned runs. Shields is 6-7 this season with a 4.55 ERA but he has been shaken up recently especially by his National League opponents. In the month of June he is 1-4 with a 7.40 ERA which is not inspiring given that the Red Sox are the best hitting team in the league. His home / away splits also cause a few concerns; Shields is 1-4 with a 5.58 ERA at home while he ERA away from Tropicana is 3.49.

The Boston Red Sox have come along way over the last two months as their pitching and hitting have come alive. The main concern now for Boston is that injuries could ruin their season. With mainstays Jacoby Ellsbury and Josh Beckett already out the Red Sox have now also lost Dustin Pedroia to the DL and could be without Victor Martinez and JD Drew as well. While Boston do have a deep squad there are only so many injuries that a team can sustain. Taking the ball for the Red Sox tonight is John Lackey, the offseason signing from the Los Angeles Angels. Lackey is 8-3 with a 4.69 ERA this season and did put in a strong start the last time he faced the Rays although that was on the road. At Fenway Park Lackey is 6-1 but his ERA is a little on the high side at 5.03. Looking at his recent form Lackey is 3-0 in five starts in June with an ERA of 4.41 and a worryingly high WHIP of 1.53 although his WHIP has been consistently high all season.

Offensively the Boston Red Sox have been on fire during the month of June with an OPS of .884 although you have to wonder what effect the loss of Pedroia and possibly Martinez will have. Conversely Tampa Bay have an OPS of .727 which is up on May but way down from April. The Rays are struggling and need to get back on track and Fenway would be the ideal place to do it but the Red Sox will still be smarting about the four-game sweep they suffered the last time Tampa were in Boston and I like them at 8/11 to get this series off to a winning start.