Rays 9, Red Sox 5
BOSTON, August 12 — After winning a three-game series over the Toronto Blue Jays three games ago the Boston Red Sox sat one and a half games out of a playoff spot; since dropping their third straight to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday the Red Sox are now four and a half games out and look more hopeless with each passing day.
Tampa Bay Scoring Parade
It didn’t take long for the Rays’ scoring parade to start rolling through. In the first inning, Zack Godley allowed a pair of singles and walked the bases loaded. The first run of the night came by way of a Joey Wendle groundout which scored Brandon Lowe from third. Believe it or not, the first inning ended up being Godley’s cleanest inning of the night.
The Red Sox starter gave up homers to Willy Adames and Lowe the following inning. Yoshi Tsutsugo got a hold of one in the third to bring in two more runs. Ron Roenicke finally pulled the plug on Godley’s night after starting the fourth with a walk, a single, and an RBI double to extend the Rays lead to seven runs.
The right-hander only lasted into the fourth inning but was pulled before he could record an out. Godley gave up 10 hits, walked two, let eight runs come across including three homers. Ji-Man Choi, Kevin Kiermaier, and Michael Perez were the only three Rays starters to end the night without an RBI. Perez also was the only starter to not record a hit in the 9-5 win.
Ryan Weber Cools the Rays Bats
Ryan Weber was optioned to the Red Sox alternate training site following his last start. However, the injury to Andrew Benintendi opened up a spot for Weber just a few days later. Weber came on in the fourth inning and put together his best performance of 2020 by far. On his 30th birthday, he tossed six innings of one-run baseball. In his first two starts the righty hadn’t struck out a single batter, but in his last two outings, he’s fanned seven. The only earned run he let up came from a ninth inning Austin Meadows home run. Weber’s final line came in at six innings pitched, five hits, one run, and four strikeouts.
Snell Owns the Red Sox
Blake Snell — who owns the Red Sox in his career — looked sharp in his first win of the season. Snell only went five innings due to his 75-pitch limit but was effective in each of his five frames. The lefty consistently dotted 97 MPH on the corners while the Red Sox starting pitcher looked as lost as he ever has in a Red Sox uniform. The former Cy Young Award winner threw five innings, allowed four hits, and struck out six.
Red Sox Scoreless Through Seven
Well, it took a while, but the Red Sox offense finally broke through in this game. In the bottom half of the eighth, the Red Sox put up five runs to the tune of six straight hits. Jackie Bradley Jr., Jose Peraza, Kevin Pillar, and Jonathan Arauz each singled to start the frame with Bradley scoring their first run of the night. J.D. Martinez stepped in next and pulled a first-pitch slider over the Green Monster for his second home run of the season. The Martinez grand slam closed the gap to 8-5 before Meadows went deep the next inning to secure the win for the Rays.
“Things aren’t going well”
Last time through the rotation Weber looked bad in the third spot. The Red Sox optioned him and moved Godley into the rotation. After Wednesday night where Godley failed to record an out in the fourth inning and was on the hook for eight runs, it’s tough to tell where the team will go from here.
“Things aren’t going well, that’s all there is to it,” said Roenicke postgame. The manager sounded as dejected as his team has looked in this series.
The Red Sox now own the second-worst record in baseball. The 2018 World Series Champs sit just two games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates who are in the basement of the National League Central.
Series Finale Thursday 4:30 ET
The Red Sox will turn to Kyle Hart (0-0, 0.00) trying to avoid the sweep. The 27-year old rookie will be making his major league debut. Hart posted a 3.52 ERA in 2019 with the Portland Seadogs and the Pawtucket Red Sox. The Rays will go with Tyler Glasnow (0-1, 5.56) who is looking to go a little further than the two and two-thirds innings he went in his last time out.
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