After last night's victory, the Rays now lead the season series with the Red Sox 9-8. A win tonight clinches the season series for the Rays. This is significant because head-to-head record is the first tie-breaker should the Rays and Red Sox finish tied atop of the AL East standings at the end of the season (and both teams are guaranteed a playoff spot because of the wild card).

If the Rays lose tonight's matchup, and both teams finish the regular season tied, the second tie-breaker is divisional record. With a loss tonight, the Rays divisional record will be 38-30, one game better than the Red Sox (36-30). The Rays have 4 games remaining with the Orioles in Baltimore while the Red Sox have 3 at Toronto and then finish the regular season with 3 against the Yankees in Boston.

[Hat tip to David Chalk over at Bugs and Cranks]