Tampa Bay Rays Projecting Win Over RedSox

Sitting five games off the lead in the AL East with eight to play, the Rays are three games behind for the final wild card spot and will shoot for a two- game sweep of the Boston Red Sox tonight.

Alex Cobb was 5-0 with a 3.25 earned run average in seven starts — all Tampa Bay wins — from Aug.

Cobb allowed four runs — three earned — in six innings of a 5-2 loss to Boston last Monday and fell to 9-9 with a 4.27 earned run average in 21 starts.

Clay Buchholz took the mound for Boston and was dealt the loss for allowing five runs — four earned — and eight hits in six innings.

Jon Lester didn’t have such a nice outing against the Rays back on May 25, when he was tagged for seven runs in just four innings of a 7-4 loss.

Lester is 1-3 in his last five trips to the mound and was roughed up in Friday’s 4-2 loss to Baltimore in which he surrendered four runs and eight hits in seven innings.

The left-hander is 9-13 in 31 overall starts with a 4.96 earned run average, and 10-7 with a 4.29 ERA in 21 career starts against the Rays.