After a summer-long tear, Victor Martinez's bat has cooled some in September. Through five games, he is batting .190 with a .608 OPS in the new month. Still, the last time that Boston played the Rays, Martinez hit home run after home run, so perhaps the matchup will get him on track again.
David Ortiz may be in an even worse slump than Martinez. Big Papi is hitting .186 over the past two weeks, and he has not hit a single home run in that span. Also like Martinez, the Rays may be Papi's best bet to get healthy. He's batting .347 against them this season.
J.D. Drew hit .324 in the month of May, but has struggled for nearly the entire rest of the season. Oakland and Tampa Bay feature two of the league's toughest staffs, and they have shut J.D. down accordingly. He is batting .238 and .159 against them respectively.
Mike Lowell is playing with injured ribs, but given that this may be his final run in a major league uniform, he's bravely playing through the pain. While he obviously hasn't been the player that he once was, Lowell has performed admirably since returning from the DL in August.
Who will be the Top Dawg of the Week Against the Rays and A's?survey software
Every Monday or Tuesday (depending on when the Red Sox series starts), NESN.com will release which Red Sox players are the Top Dawg contenders. The following Sunday, Jerry Remy will pick a Top Dawg of the Week.
But Jerry also wants to hear from you, Red Sox Nation, and find out who you think is the week’s Top Dawg for the Red Sox. Fans can vote for their Top Dawg of the Week. At the end of the week, we’ll see if Jerry's Top Dawg matches up with Red Sox Nation's Top Dawg.
