For Sox pitchers, it's show time

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- At this point of the 2010 season, there's no reason for the Boston Red Sox to think they're out of the playoff race. They haven't felt that way all season and they won't start now.

Everyone knows the adversity the Red Sox have faced all season with major injuries to key players. The time to dwell on all that is over. There are only 34 games left in the regular season and Boston remains 5½ games back of the co-division leading New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.

The Red Sox face each team a total of six times in the final six weeks of the season, beginning this weekend with a three-game series against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Boston was built with a dominant starting rotation that has experienced its own ups and downs this season and the Red Sox desperately need to rely on their starting pitching for the remainder of the season if a postseason berth is attainable.

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Juliann Tallino/US PresswireJohn Lackey will face Tampa righty James Shields in the series finale on Sunday.

"Pitching gives you a chance to win championships," said Sox outfielder Mike Cameron, who will undergo season-ending surgery on Friday to repair an abdominal tear. "You can have all the great hitting in the world, but if you can't stop them on the hill it'll be a long season."

This weekend in St. Petersburg will feature stunning matchups from some of the league's best pitchers.

Red Sox lefty Jon Lester, whose start was pushed back due to Daisuke Matsuzaka's lower-back stiffness, will toe the rubber in the first game of the series Friday at Tropicana Field when he faces Rays southpaw David Price.

Lester is coming off the worst start of his career when he allowed nine runs on eight hits over two-plus innings against the Toronto Blue Jays and he's looking to rebound in a big way.

"We're getting down to [crunch] time," Lester said after that loss, adding that it was going to be a long five days until his next start.

He was ready to start the nightcap of Wednesday's day/night doubleheader against the Seattle Mariners until Matsuzaka experienced the back soreness playing long toss.

Lester is 13-8 with a 3.26 ERA this season and has become the ace of Boston's staff. Lester also boosts a 7-3 record with a 4.18 ERA in 14 career starts against the Rays.

The Rays' Price, who is a candidate for the AL Cy Young Award, is having a solid season, too, as Tampa's left-hander is 15-5 with a 2.97 ERA.

Saturday's matchup is also an impressive one.

Boston right-hander Clay Buchholz, who is in the midst of his finest season in the big leagues and also in contention for the Cy Young, will battle Tampa righty Matt Garza. Buchholz enters with a 15-5 record and his league-leading 2.26 ERA.

"I just want to help this ballclub down the stretch," Buchholz said. "We definitely need to put a string together to catch up with the two teams in front of us, so that's my only thought going into my next outing."

Garza is 13-7 with a 3.62 ERA and has always had success against the Red Sox, posting a 7-3 record with a 3.64 ERA in 17 career outings against Boston.

In the series finale on Sunday, the Red Sox send right-hander John Lackey to the hill against Tampa righty James Shields. Unlike Lester, who is coming off the worst start of his career, Lackey produced one of his best against the Mariners on Monday at Fenway Park, working eight strong innings and recording a season-high 10 strikeouts.

It appears Lackey is getting back to his workhorse mentality and that will be needed down the stretch. He's 2-1 with a 5.94 ERA against the Rays this season.

Garza is also coming off a pair of solid starts, including a victory over the Angels on Monday when he struck out 10.

Both the Red Sox and Rays had Thursday off in preparation for this crucial series.

Home-field advantage could play a major role in this series since the Rays have won 19 of their last 24 games at Tropicana Field, and have the best home record in the majors during their current streak.

Tampa leads the season series between the two clubs with an 8-4 record.

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein recently said he believes this club has what it takes to get hot and string a bunch of wins together. Boston has no choice. It has to accomplish just that or its season will be over on Oct. 3.

"We're not 10 games out, and it's not the end of September," Epstein said. "We have time."

It starts this weekend in Tampa.

Joe McDonald covers the Red Sox and Bruins for ESPNBoston.com.

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Joe McDonald

Reporter, ESPNBoston.com

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• Red Sox and Bruins beat reporter
• Covered Boston teams since 1992
• Joined ESPNBoston.com in 2010