The Rays wasted no time getting to Price in the top of the first inning. Logan Forsythe drilled a single to center to begin the game. Brandon Guyer was hit by a pitch and Evan Longoria moved Forsythe to third with a fly out to right. Steve Pearce put the Rays on top with a single that scored Forsythe. Price recovered to strike out both Desmond Jennings and Steven Souza Jr to end the inning. The Sox also wasted no time scoring as well against Odorizzi. Mr. Mookie Betts stroked a single to center and Dustin Pedroia launched his first home run of the year into the monster seats to give the Sox a 2-1 lead. Xander Bogaerts doubled and Souza Jr robbed Ortiz with a jumping catch in deep right. Hanley Ramirez got the run in anyway by singling home Bogaerts. Travis Shaw doubled and Brock "Hitman" Holt singled to score Ramirez and advance Shaw to third. The Sox played some small ball when Holt took off for second and Curt Casali's throw sailed into center field, advancing Holt to third. Shaw was on his way home and he got credit for a stolen base as well. Holt took off for home on the ground ball by Christian Vazquez but Brock was out at home. Jackie Bradley Jr struck out to end the inning, but the Sox now led 5-1.
Tim Beckham struck out to begin the top of the second. Kevin Kiermaier flied out as Casali atoned for his throwing error by singling. Forsythe looked at strike 3 to end the inning. Betts looked at strike 3 to begin the bottom of the second inning. Pedroia stroked a single past the diving Forsythe and Bogaerts walked. Ortiz looked to have grounded out to advance the runners but the umpires ruled the ball was caught and Bogaerts was doubled off at first. The umpires got together and they ruled Ortiz grounded out and the runners were safe. Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash came out for an explanation and replays showed that the ball did bounce before entering Pearce's glove. Ramirez check swing bunted down the third base line and was ruled out at first.....or was he? Sox analyst Steve Lyons wondered if this inning would ever end as Sox manager John Farrell challenged the call. The replay showed the tie went to the runner but the umpires called Hanley out anyway. If nothing else, it made Odorizzi work.
Shaw made a barehanded snag to rob Guyer of a hit to begin the top of the third. Longoria got a run back with a blast to dead center field. Pearce walked and Jennings hit a bullet but it was snared by Jennings. Souza Jr struck out but Price had thrown 64 pitches in just 3 innings. Shaw flied out to left to begin the bottom of the third. Holt flied out to center and Vazquez struck out to end the inning.
The Rays pulled off a shocking rally to go ahead in the top of the fourth. Beckham grounded to third but Kiermaier walked. Casali then smashed a 2 run bomb into the monster seats to cut the lead 5-4. Forsythe beat out a ground ball and Guyer was hit with a pitch for a second time. Longoria hit one off the monster that Holt misplayed, allowing both Forsythe and Guyer to score, giving the Rays a stunning 6-5 lead. It was fairly obvious Price had nothing today. Pearce popped up as Matt Barnes began warming in the bullpen. Jennings then doubled off the monster to chase Price and give the Rays a 7-5 lead. You'd think your ace pitcher, facing the worst offense in the league, would have cruised. Think again. As if the inning couldn't get any worse, Ramirez committed his first blunder of the year on a ground ball by Souza Jr, allowing Jennings to score. It was ruled an error but later changed to a hit. Beckham struck out but the Rays scored 6 to take a commanding 8-5 lead. What a disaster. The rejuvinated Odorizzi began picking apart the deflated Sox. JBJ grounded out, Mr. Mookie flied out and Pedroia flied out to end the inning.
The Rays threatened again in the top of the fifth, Kiermaier grounded out to second and Shaw made a dazzling, diving play to rob Casali of a hit. Forsythe walked and Guyer singled him to third. Longoria flied out to end the inning. Somehow, Bogaerts hit a leadoff double that Guyer lost in the sun to begin the bottom of the fifth. Rays manager Kevin Cash pulled Odorizzi immediately and replaced him with lefty Enny Romero to face Ortiz. Romero did his job as Ortiz flied out without advancing Bogaerts. Ramirez whiffed and Shaw grounded out to third to end the inning.
Barnes returned for the top of the 6th inning and got Pearce to ground out. Jennings struck out as William Cuevas began warming in the bullpen. Souza Jr walked and Beckham struck out to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fifth as Holt struck out. Vazquez walked as JBJ struck out and that was it for Romero. Danny Farquhar was brought in to pitch to Betts and Mookie made him pay by smashing a 412 foot no-doubter home run to cut the deficit 8-7. Pedroia doubled to get the tying run on but was stranded as Bogaerts lined out to center. Still, the Sox showed some life by scoring some runs.
William Cuevas (0-1) made his major league debut in the top of the 7th inning. Kiermaier popped up to Vazquez and Casali popped up to first. Forsythe walked again but Guyer was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single to end the inning. Xavier Cedeno was brought in for the bottom of the 7th inning. The Sox tried to rally again in the bottom of the 7th inning when Ortiz doubled, his first hit even though he hit the ball hard all day. Ramirez made a productive out by flying out, advancing Ortiz to third. Shaw doubled home David to tie the game. Holt hit one to third and the throw by Beckham went past Casali, allowing Holt to reach second. Vazquez walked to load the bases....and JBJ struck out. Huge failure right there. Erasmo Ramirez was brought in to pitch to Betts. Betts looked at strike 3....the game was tied but that was a major opportunity lost to get the lead for Cuevas.
With The Orient Express exhausted, Farrell decided to keep Cuevas in to pitch the 8th inning. Right on cue the Rays scored again. Longoria flied out to left but Pearce walked. Tommy Layne began warming up in the bullpen. Pearce reached second on the Jennings ground out and scored on the Souza Jr double. Beckham popped up to end the inning but the damage was done. Could the Sox answer in the bottom of the 8th? Pedroia flied out but the Sox caught a break when Bogaerts singled and took second after Guyer's throw airmailed the second basemen. Ortiz walked which put the go-ahead run at first. Ramirez lined out to second and Shaw was robbed at the wall....so much for clutch hits.
Cuevas was brought back for the top of the 9th with Noe Ramirez warming. Farrell wanted Koji to close the game out but since the Sox failed to tie, it made sense to roll the dice with Cuevas. The gamble failed as Kiermaier slapped a single then stretched it to a double, moving to third on the sacrifice bunt by Casali. That was it for Cuevas who was thrown into the fire in his ML debut. Ramirez was already severely depleted after throwing too many pitches last night and his last two games. Right on cue Forsythe singled home Kiermaier to put the game away 10-8. Guyer was hit with a pitch for the third time today as Longoria flied out but Corey Dickerson pinch hit and doubled home both runners, making it 12-8. John Farrell pushed all the wrong buttons but Matt Barnes today. A truly terrible managerial job today. Jennings was hit by a pitch to prolong the agony but Souza Jr grounded out to end it. The boo birds rained down at Fenway. With the game out of reach, Dana Eveland was brought in for the bottom of the 9th. Josh Rutledge pinch hit for Holt and doubled, but Vazquez grounded back to the pitcher. Chris Young pinch hit for JBJ and walked. Alex Colome was brought in to close out the game. Betts flied out as Rutledge took third. Pedroia flied out to end the game. A truly pathetic display to an already pathetic season.
Jackass of the Night is an easy one. David Price was staked to a 5-1 second inning lead and got hammered, failing to get out of the fourth inning. Cuevas and Ramirez shouldn't even have been in the positions they were in, the blame falls on Price.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 6 with 2 runs scored and a 2 run home run. Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 6 with a run scored and a 2 run blast. Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with a walk and a run scored. Travis Shaw was 2 for 5 with a run scored and rbi. Brock Holt was 2 for 4 with an rbi. Jeff Rutledge pinch hit for Holt and got a hit. Chris Young pinch hit for JBJ and walked. Matt Barnes pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
The Bad:
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with a hat trick. William Cuevas made his ML debut by taking the loss, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in 2 1/3 innings. Noe Ramirez gave up 2 runs on 2 hits in the 9th inning.
The Ugly:
David Ortiz was 1 for 4 with a walk and a run scored. Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 5 with a run scored and rbi. Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 but walked twice and scored a run.
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Final Thoughts:
What a meltdown. The season is a disaster and its not even out of April yet. The Sox needed Price and others to go deep into the games and they're just not getting it done. Price was supposed to be the ace but he's been terrible in 2 of his 4 starts. Hopefully it was just a bad game but if there's something wrong with him physically or mentally, the Sox are in big trouble. Luckily the addition of Vazquez seemed to bring the best out of Buchholz and Porcello, plus Wright has been pitching great. Still, the game highlighted some horrendous managerial decisions by Farrell and he may be gone before the month is over at this rate. The team seemed to respond to Torey Luvello at the end of last season so if Farrell continues to use AAA pitchers in pressure packed situations over veterans, Farrell may be on the way out. Tomorrow night the hard luck Steven Wright pitches in Houston against the Astros at 8:05 PM.
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