As for the game, what an unmitigated disaster. The Tampa Bay Rays chewed up the Red Sox and spat them out in Game 1 of today's doubleheader. Josh A Smith (0-2, 6.35 ERA) got hammered for 4 runs in just 4 innings to take the loss. The Sox made it a three run game in the bottom of the eighth before the Rays iced it with 4 runs off reliever Josh Taylor. The Rays send the Sox further behind in the AL East race with a 9-2 victory at Fenway Park.
Austin Meadows singled to center and swiped second to open the top of the first. Tommy Pham took strike three, Brandon Lowe flied out to right and Avisail Garcia whiffed to end the inning. Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough dominated the bottom of the first as Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to right to start. Michael Chavis whiffed and Xander Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Rays pounced in the top of the second as Ji-Man Choi singled to right to start. Yandy Diaz flied out to right and Kevin Kiermaier lined out to right, but Wily Adames walked and Travis d'Arnaud smashed a home run all the way to Lake Eerie to ice the game early. Meadows singled to center, Pham was plunked and Lowe singled to right. Meadows scored but Pham was thrown out at third in a rundown to end the inning with the Rays up 4-0.
The Sox did try to fight back in the bottom of the second although Rafael Devers grounded out to second to start. Christian Vazquez singled to center and Lowe booted a grounder by Eduardo Nunez for an error. Sam Travis got a base hit to center to score Vazquez. Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to right and Sandy Leon whiffed to end the inning with the Sox down 1-0.
Smith settled down in the top of the third inning as Garcia lined out to left to start. Choi whiffed but Diaz singled to center. Diaz tried to stretch a double but JBJ gunned him down to end the inning...but wait! Rays manager Kevin Cash challenged the call but it was upheld, inning over.
Guillermo Heredia took over for Pham for the bottom of the third as Mr. Mookie grounded out to second to start. Chavis whiffed and Bogaerts took strike three to end the inning.
Kiermaier flied out to left to start the top of the fourth but Adames singled. Adames tried for second but was thrown out by Betts. d'Arnaud grounded out to short to end the inning. Smith lasted just 4 innings and allowed 4 runs, not good.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Devers lined out to center to start. Vazquez whiffed and Nunez flied out to left to end the inning.
Colten Brewer came in for the top of the fifth and the Rays tagged him. Meadows and Heredia drew back to back walks before Lowe hit a routine grounder to Chavis who spiked the ball like a football and swam on it for an error to load the bases. Garcia whiffed but the ball got away from Vazquez and Meadows scored a run. Choi walked to load the bases but Diaz banged into a double play to end the inning with the Rays ahead 5-1.
Travis grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fifth before JBJ grounded back to the mound. Leon took strike three to end the inning.
Mike Shawaryn came in for top of the sixth and Kiermaier whiffed to start. Adames lined out to right and d'Arnaud took strike three to end the inning. Mr. Mookie grounded out to short to start the bottom of the sixth but Chavis dumoed a base hit to right. Bogaerts banged into a double play to end the inning.
Meadows flied out to right to start the top of the seventh but both Heredia and Lowe got plunked. Garcia flied out to right and Choi whiffed to end the inning. Devers reached on an error to start the bottom of the seventh but Vazquez whiffed and Nunez hit into a double play to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier cruised in the top of the eighth as Diaz popped up to first to start. Kiemaier lined out to left and Adames grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox fought back in the bottom of the eighth although Travis grounded out to third to start. Somehow JBJ cracked his 5th home run of the season to cut the lead. Leon grounded out to first and that was it for Yarbrough who tossed 7 2/3 innings of 2 run ball. Emilio Pagan got Mr. Mookie to pop up to second to end the inning but the Sox were down 5-2.
Just as soon as the Sox got within three, Josh Taylor got creamed in the top of the ninth. d'Arnaud singled to left but Meadows whiffed. Heredia singled d'Arnaud to third and Lowe caught the Sox asleep with a drag bunt single to score d'Arnaud. Garcia forced Lowe at second and Choi singled home Heredia. Diaz singled home Garcia and Kiermaier singled home Choi to ice it. Adames took strike three to end the inning but the Rays had wrapped it up 9-2.
Casey Sadler came in for the bottom of the ninth and Chavis got a base hit to left to start. Marco Hernandez made his season debut by pinch hitting for Bogaerts, getting a double to right. The rally ended as Devers grounded back to the mound, Vazquez flied out to left and Nunez whiffed to end the game. The Rays had won it 9-2.
Jackass of the Night is Josh Taylor. Not that the Sox were touching Yarbrough but he turned a 5-2 game into 9-2 in the blink of an eye.
The Good:
Michael Chavis was 2 for 4.
Marco Hernandez got a hit as a pinch hitter.
Sam Travis was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a solo home run.
Mike Shawaryn pitched 2 scoreless innings.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless inning.
The Bad:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Josh Smith allowed 4 runs in 4 innings of work.
Colten Brewer allowed a run in an inning of work.
The Ugly:
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
That sucked big time. You knew Josh Smith was gonna crap the bed but you would think the offense would have picked him up. Nope, Ryan Yarbrough had his way with the Sox for 7 innings. The good news we probably never have to see Smith again but the bad news was this was a loss the Sox can ill-afford with the New York Yankees beginning to pull away and the Rays showing they're just as good as New York is. The Sox need to get their act together and hopefully they can bounce back in game two. This game was an unmitigated disaster and it just kept getting worse with each and every passing second. The loss dropped the Sox to 33-31, 7 games behind the Rays in the AL East. Tonight the Sox look to take Game 2 when David Price (3-2) goes for the Sox up against Ryan Stanek at 6:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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