First pitch: Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Boston -120, Tampa Bay +110, Total: 9.0

The Red Sox will be going for their eighth straight win when they take on the Rays on Wednesday.

Boston is on fire heading into Wednesday’s meeting with Tampa Bay, as the Red Sox have now won seven straight games. They just defeated this Rays team on Tuesday, winning 2-0 in a game that saw Chris Sale absolutely dominate. The lefty threw eight shutout innings in that game, and he also struck out 13 batters. It’s pretty safe to say that Boston will not get that type of performance from Wednesday’s starter. That pitcher is set to be RHP Rick Porcello (5-14, 4.70 ERA, 132 K), who has struggled a ton this season. He’s also going up against a Rays team that knows how important a win in this game is. Tampa is currently fighting for a wild card spot, and it can’t afford to slip under the .500 mark at this point in the year. The starter that will be tasked with avoiding the loss in this one is RHP Jake Odorizzi (6-4, 4.47 ERA, 82 K). The righty has also been worse than expected this season, so it wouldn’t be shocking if there were a ton of runs scored in this one. One trend that stands out when looking at this game is that the Rays are 0-6 over the past two seasons when Odorizzi is on the mound in a game with a total of 8.5 to 10.

The Red Sox are hoping to continue to stretch their lead atop the AL East standings, but Rick Porcello will need to turn things around in order for Boston to win on Wednesday. The 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner has now allowed nine earned runs in his past 12.1 innings of work. He just gave up five earned runs in 5.1 innings against the White Sox, and that type of performance will not cut it on Wednesday. The Sox will need a quality start or something close to it, but Porcello just might have some confidence in this one. Despite his struggles, he allowed only one earned run in 8.0 innings of work in his most recent start against the Rays (Jul. 8). Perhaps he has this lineup figured out. As for the Boston lineup, 3B Eduardo Nunez (.323 BA, 8 HR, 43 RBI) is somebody that needs to be mentioned here. Nunez is batting .422 with four homers and 12 RBI in 10 games with the Red Sox this season. He is really enjoying his new home, and his production has made this a scary lineup.

The Rays can really use a win in this game on Wednesday and Jake Odorizzi knows that he needs to be on his game in this one. Odorizzi allowed three earned runs in four innings of work in his last start, and he needed 95 pitches to get through those four innings. That is not going to be good enough against a Boston lineup that is absolutely clicking right now. The Rays need more of the Odorizzi that pitched seven innings of one-run ball in his previous start against the Athletics. On offense, 1B Logan Morrison (.249 BA, 28 HR, 66 RBI) could provide a spark for Tampa Bay in this game. Morrison has been great against Porcello in his career, going 10-for-31 with three doubles, a homer, and five RBI against the righty. It has also been five games since Morrison last homered, so perhaps he is due.