Velazquez took the mound in the top of the first and Mallex Smith grounded out to second to start. Xander Bogaerts made a great play and throw to rob Matt Duffy of a hit but Jake Bauers drew a walk. Tommy Pham whiffed on a pitch in the dirt to end the inning. Tampa "starter" Diego Castillo got the ball in the bottom of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to short to start. Andrew Benintendi grounded out to first and Steve Pearce flied out to center to end the inning.
The Rays took the lead for good in the top of the second as Joey Wendle led off with a 950 foot blast to put the Rays on the board. CJ Cron grounded out to short but Ji-Man Choi singled up the middle and Brandon Lowe was plunked. Velazquez got out of it by getting Jesus Sucre to bang into a double play but the Rays were up 1-0.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as JD Martinez popped up to first to begin. Xander Bogaerts got a lucky double but Eduardo Nunez grounded out to second, moving Xander to third. That was it for Castillo as old friend Jalen "Twin" Beeks was summoned and he whiffed Brock "The Hitman" Holt to end the inning.
Velazquez was back for the top of the third and Smith grounded out to first on the first pitch but Duffy singled to left. Bauers flied out to left and Pham grounded out to a running Holt to end the inning. Beeks returned for the bottom of the third and Blake Swihart swung at a ball that bounced in the dirt for strike three. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to short and Mr. Mookie popped up to second to end the inning.
Velazquez got some revenge by getting Wendle to ground out to second to open the top of the fourth inning. Cron lifted a blooper to right but a diving Mookie made the catch for the second out. Choi and Lowe worked back to back walks but Sucre was rung up on a questionable strike three call to end the inning. That was it for Velazquez who gave the Sox 4 innings as a last second replacement for Sale.
Beeks came out for the bottom of the fourth and somehow Benintendi singled to right. Somehow Pearce drew a walk but naturally Martinez banged into a double play. Bogaerts drew a walk but Nunez lined to left to end the inning and their last scoring chance.
Brandon Workman came in to pitch the top of the fifth and got Smith to ground out to second to start. Duffy lined out to right and Bauers whiffed on just 7 pitches from Workman to end the inning. Beeks came back for the bottom of the fifth and Holt hit a routine grounder to short....but Wendle booted it for an error. Naturally Swihart banged into a double play and JBJ whiffed to end the inning.
Pham grounded out to third on the first pitch of the top of the sixth before Wendle grounded out to second. Cron hit a bullet to third but Nunez snuffed it out for a 6 pitch inning by Workman. The Sox did nothing against Beeks in the bottom of the sixth as Mr. Mookie grounded out to third to start. Jalen's college roomate Benintendi grounded out to second and that was it for Beeks. The ex-Sox tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings before Chaz Roe was brought in. Pearce popped up to second to end the inning. If the Sox had to lose, at least it was to one of their own, tip your cap to Beeks.
Joe Kelly came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Choi lined out to center to begin. Kelly whiffed Lowe on a curve and Sucre flied out to right to end the inning. The lifeless Sox offense did nothing in the bottom of the seventh as Martinez whiffed on a 3-2 curve and Bogaerts grounded out weekly to first. Nunez fell down whiffing to end the inning. That's 7 scoreless innings with two measly hits for the Rays bullpen.
Heath Hembree came in for the top of the eighth and Smith lined out to a running Betts in right to start. Duffy flied out to a running JBJ but Bauers walked. Kevin Kiermaier ran for Bauers but Pham lined out to right to end the inning. Jose Alvarado came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Ian Kinsler pinch hit for Holt only to whiff on a 3-2 count. Swihart whiffed badly as did JBJ to end the inning. The Sox had not one hard hit ball the entire game, it was complete domination by the Rays bullpen.
Matt Barnes had the top of the ninth for the Sox and crapped his pants. Wendle whiffed with the bat flying out of his hands but Cron crushed a 90,000 foot blast to ice the game. Just for good measure Choi walked and stole second although Lowe whiffed. Sucre whiffed to end the inning but it was 2-0 Rays.
Sergio Romo was brought in to close it out and the Sox went quietly. Mr. Mookie whiffed badly, Benintendi lined out to short and Mitch Moreland pinch hit for Pearce only to whiff to end the game. The Sox did not hit one hard hit ball all game and were shut out 2-0.
Jackass of the Night is JD Martinez. The Sox only chance was when they had two on and none out and Martinez banged into a double play.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 2 with a walk.
Hector Velazquez took the loss but pitched 4 innings of 1 run ball.
Brandon Workman pitched 2 scoreless innings.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 8th inning,.
The Bad:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Mitch Moreland struck out as a pinch hitter
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Brock Holt was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Ian Kinsler struck out as a pinch hitter.
Blake Swihart was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Matt Barnes gave up the insurance run in the top of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4.
Steve Pearce was 0 for 2 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Of all the losses this season, this had to be the most brutal. Even when the Sox got no-hit by Sean Manaea some of the A's had to make good plays and some of the balls were hard hit. There was not ONE hard hit ball the entire game by the Sox offense. The only two hits were bloops and all 27 outs were a strikeout, a pop up or a ground ball. I would say getting shut out happens, but at least you can put some hits together or hit the ball hard. The Sox did none of that today and they deserved this miserable loss. Still its only one game and they still have a huge lead in the pennant race, unfortunately there's a dark cloud on the horizon. Next up is Corey Kluber and the AL Central leading Cleveland Indians. The loss dropped the Sox to 88-37, 9.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox hope to crack Kluber when they send "Slick" Rick Porcello (15-5, 4.04 ERA) to the mound at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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