Boston Red Sox advance

The Boston Red Sox are in good shape.

The Red Sox beat Tampa Bay tonight 3-1 and win the ALDS three games to one and for the first time since 2008 will advance to American League Championship Series.

They can head home and relax. They can rest their starting pitching and their relievers and await their opponent. Oakland and the Tigers are still battling as Detroit gets by the A's 8-6 earlier today, forcing a Game 5 in Oakland on Thursday.

The LA Dodgers are already in as they sit back and watch the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cardinals face off in Game 5 of the NLDS in St. Louis on Wednesday.

There's a couple of big story lines out there with the surprising Pirates still hanging around and the surprising A's, despite their loss to Detroit tonight, still with a shot at making it to the ALCS and an outside shot of making it to the World Series for the first time since 1990.

Billy Beane must be squirming tonight. The movie Moneyball (2011) gave us quite an insight as to how a major league team, with a small bankroll,  can compete against the big boys. The movie centered on the year 2002, the year Oakland established a major league record with 20 wins in a row.

Now they're back, knocking at the door once again in hopes of getting to the "Big Show." A victory in Game 5 over the Tigers and chances are Beane, within minutes after the final pitch has been thrown,  will be rolling on the grass inside the confines of the Oakland Coliseum.

If you've seen Moneyball then you know the scene.

Great baseball movie and great acting by Brad Pitt, who portrayed Billy Beane.

Of course Game 5 on Thursday at the Oakland Coliseum is a far cry from a Hollywood set and the Tigers will have a say in the outcome. But still, it should be a dramatic ending.