Tampa Bay and Boston advance to AL Championship series

Despite their history of futility, the Tampa Bay Rays were never happy to just be competitive. Their unprecedented turnaround was the biggest story of the baseball season, but they were never content with their incremental successes. It wasn’t enough to finish over .500, they wanted to make the playoffs. The Wild Card wasn’t good enough, so they went out and won the division. Now that they’re in the playoffs, they’re clearly not going to be happy for just defeating the Chicago White Sox in four games to advance to the ALCS—they’re a team that’s in it to win.

Boston, meanwhile, may be peaking at the right time. They defeated the LA Angels—owners of the best record in baseball—in four straight games and now return to the ALCS. They’ll now face Tampa Bay trying to win their 3rd American League pennant in five years and a chance to defend their World Series title from a year ago. And in a strange turn of events, the Tampa Bay/Boston rivalry has become one of the best in baseball.

Even stranger is that the upstarts from Florida held the edge this year over the World Champion Red Sox, winning 10 of 18 contests between the two teams. And while many expected Tampa to choke down the stretch due to their lack of playoff experience, they took two series in September from Boston—one at home and the other at Fenway Park—that may have been the decisive blow in their division title win.

Boston and Tampa Bay will begin the ALCS on Friday at Tropicana Field. Pitching matchups have yet to be determined. They’ll play in Tampa on Friday and Saturday before heading to Fenway Park in Boston for games on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday (if necessary). Should they be needed, games six and seven would be played back at Tropicana Field where the Rays earned the best home record in baseball.