How do you improve upon a matchup between the baseball team with the AL’s best record and one of the hottest teams in the game? You add two of the game’s best pitchers!

The Big Schill should have his hands full tonight at the Fens.

That’s what you’re getting at Fenway tonight, folks. Curt Schilling and Scott Kazmir. An awakened Sox offense and surging Devil Ray bats. And all of it is aptly surmised here at Baseball-Reference.

So, how will the Sox respond to A) returning home and B) playing a team not named the Orioles? Naturally those are two very different questions, both of which warrant very different responses. While Boston is likely to boast a sterling performance at home, the D Rays are in the midst of their annual September surge, which makes them anything but their usual patsy selves. Carlos Pena is a legitimate power threat (why couldn’t he be that last year in Boston? It just doesn’t make any sense), and the youth and speed throughout the rest of the lineup poses numerous problems for any pitcher, let alone Schilling, who has been prone to multiple SSS’s (Schilling solo shots) in recent weeks.

Then there’s the David Ortiz factor. With Manny Ramirez still limping, literally or figuratively (we’re not sure), Big Papi has done his best to atone for his earlier struggles while also accomodating the absence of Monseuier Being Manny. But while Ortiz’s power numbers surged at Camden, he’s been more moderate at home, which could pose a problem for the Sox (a big series from Mike Lowell, anyone? Sounds good doesn’t it?).

But enough of the chatter. Let’s see what Boston can cook up at the Fens. Here’s betting that no matter what it is, it’ll be interesting.

– Cameron Smith