The Sox did absolutely nothing in the top of the first inning against Snell as Mr. Mookie Betts looked at strike three to begin. Eduardo Nunez flied out to center and Xander Bogaerts grounded out to second to end the inning. The Rays jumped all over Eovaldi in the bottom of the first inning as Joey Wendle began with a double before moving to third on the Matt Duffy single. Ji-Man Choi singled home Wendle and advance Duffy to third just like that. Tommy Pham looked at strike three but Jake Bauers scored Duffy with a sac fly to ice the game early. Kiermaier popped up to first to end the inng with the Rays up 2-0.
Nothing good happened in the top of the second as Steve Pearce walked to start but Mitch Moreland flied out to left. Pearce randomly took off for second and he was easily thrown out at second before Ian Kinsler took strike three to end the inning. Somehow Eovaldi had a strong bottom of the second as Willy Adames and Brandon Lowe grounded out to second before Michael Perez whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as Brock "The Hitman" Holt whiffed to start. Sandy Leon grounded out to short before Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed to end the inning. The Rays struck again in the bottom of the third although Wendle looked at strike three to start. Duffy and Choi stroked back to back singles before Pham singled hme Duffy. Bauers lined out to right but Kiermaier tripled home everyone to put the game out of reach. Adames looked at strike three but it was 5-0 Rays.
Mr. Mookie tried to fight back with a leadoff single to open the top of the fourth but Nunez whiffed. Betts swiped second but Bogaerts whiffed too. Pearce flied out to center to end the inning. Eovaldi came back for another beating in the bottom of the fourth. Lowe hit a routine grounder to Moreland who decided to dive on the ball and swim on it for an error. Lowe was erased on the force by Perez but Wendle singled. A wild pitch moved both runners over and Lowe scored on the sac fly by Duffy. Choi was finally struck out to end the inning but that was it for Eovaldi. He lasted just 4 innings and allowed 6 runs to trail 6-0.
Still nothing in the top of the fifth inning as Moreland popped up to third to begin. Kinsler flied out to center before Holt whiffed to end the inning. Joe Kelly came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Pham greeted him with a base hit. Kelly managed to pick him off and Bauers grounded out to first, but Kiermaier walked. Adames grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox finally broke through briefly in the top of the sixth inning when Leon walked to start. JBJ doubled Leon to third but all Mr. Mookie could do was score Leon with a sac fly. Nunez moved JBJ to third with a groundr but Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning with the Sox down 6-1.
The Rays were personally offended the Sox had the unmitigated audacity to score a run so they pounded Heath Hembree in the bottom of the sixth inning. Lowe singled then took second on the Perez strike out. Wendle whiffed but Duffy doubled home Lowe. Choi walked but Pham flied out to right to end the inning with the Rays up 7-1.
That was it for Snell after 6 solid innings and Diego Castillo got the ball for the top of the seventh. Pearce grounded out to third, Moreland flied out to center and Kinsler popped up to first to end the inning. Matt Barnes got the bottom of the seventh and they smacked him around too. Bauers walked but Kiermaier and Adames whiffed. Lowe walked and Perez doubled home both runners to increase the lead. Wendle grounded out to short to end the inning with the Rays up 9-1.
Andrew Kittredge got the ball in the top of the eighth an Holt popped up to third to begin. Leon also popped up to third before JBJ whiffed to end the inning. Blake Swihart came in to spell Betts and Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning. Duffy and Choi watched strike three go by before Kimbrel blew away Pham to end the inning. Guess that was the lone highlight of the game for Boston.
The game mercifully ended in the top of the ninth inning as Swihart grounded out to first to start. Nunez singled and took second on defensive indifference but Bogaerts grounded out to third. Pearce grounded out to second to end the game. The Rays had swept the Sox out of Tampa with a 9-1 win.
Jackass of the Night is Nathan Eovaldi. He lasted just 4 innings and gave up 6 runs for yet another defeat. He's clearly broken.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 1 for 2 with a steal and drove in the only run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless 5th inning.
Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth.
The Bad:
Blake Swihart was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 with an error.
Ian Kinsler was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Brock Holt was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Heath Hembree allowed a run in the sixth.
Matt Barnes allowed 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Ugly:
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4.
Steve Pearce was 0 for 3 but walked.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 2 but walked and scored.
Final Thoughts:
That totally sucked. Not only did the Rays dominate the Sox but none of the games were even close. The Rays controlled from start to finish and battered the Sox for 24 runs in 3 games. That was a mugging with an audience and tip your cap to the Rays for earning that sweep. Compounding this disaster was the New York Yankees sweeping the Baltimore Orioles four straight to erase the 9.5 game deficit in the standings they had. Now this is no time to panic if you're a Sox fan. They have 6 games coming with the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox plus the Yankees have a tougher September than they had in August. Realistically the Yankees could win about 104 games and the Sox just need to win 14 games to reach that mark. If the Sox stumble, bumble and fall to Chicago and Miami, THEN its time to panic. The loss dropped the Sox to 90-42, 6 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. After an off-day the Sox return home to face the Miami Marlins with Brian Johnson on the mound opposite Jose Urena. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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