Rays, Red Sox meet at Fenway Park

The Boston Red Sox have not played well so far in September, but they can pretty much punch their ticket to the postseason with a series win over the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend. That four-game set continues Friday night (7:10pm ET, NESN).

And Red Sox starter Josh Beckett (12-5, 2.49 ERA) is expected to head to the mound for Friday's matchup against the Rays. Righthander Beckett had been on the shelf with an ankle injury, last starting September 5 in Toronto � throwing 3 2-3 scoreless innings and giving up three hits while fanning six in the shortened outing.

Beckett last pitched against the Rays on July 17 in Tampa Bay, and turned in a stellar performance by giving up just one hit over eight scoreless innings and fanning six. Boston has picked up seven wins in Beckett's last 10 trips to the hill.

Countering for the Rays on Friday will be James Shields (15-10, 2.70 ERA), and Boston won't be too happy to see him on the mound again. Righthander Shields beat the Red Sox last weekend, surrendering one run on seven hits over his 8 1-3 innings pitched. Shields pitched in Boston back on August 16, taking the loss in that contest after allowing three runs on three hits over his eight innings worked.

On Saturday the probable pitchers in the series are Jeff Niemann (10-7, 3.97 ERA) for the Rays and Jon Lester (15-7, 3.07 ERA) for the Red Sox. Lefthander Lester was beaten by Tampa Bay last weekend, giving up four runs in just four innings pitched. Righthander Niemann pitched against the BoSox in Fenway Park on August 16, going nine innings and surrendering just two runs in that day's victory.

Sunday's projected starter for Tampa Bay is David Price (12-12, 3.34 ERA), while Tim Wakefield (7-6, 5.13 ERA) would be in line to take the mound for the BoSox.

Heading into the series Boston sits at +125 on the Oddsmaker betting board to win the American League Pennant this season, with Tampa Bay back at +2000. The Yankees, pegged at +150 on the AL Pennant futures, have a series in Toronto this weekend, while the Tigers (+400) are in Oakland. The Rangers (+400) are in Seattle this weekend, and the Angels (+1200) will be on the road in Baltimore.

Over in the National League this weekend the Cardinals will be in Philadelphia and looking to make one last run at the league's Wild Card berth. The Braves, the current Wild Card holder, host the Mets, while Arizona is in San Diego, and Milwaukee is on the road in Cincinnati. The Phillies remain the -200 NL Pennant favorites, with the Brewers at +250, and the Braves and D-Backs sitting at +500.

Check out the Oddsmaker MLB betting board for all the series lines this weekend.