As for the game, this dreary season trudges on with the Sox unable to beat good teams. The Tampa Bay Rays was the latest to beat the surprisingly heartless Red Sox. Yonny Chirinos tossed 8 shutout innings for the Rays, silencing the bats almost effortlessly. "Slick" Rick Porcello (4-6, 4.86 ERA) took another beating and the Rays knocked the Sox further behind with a 5-1 victory at Fenway Park.
Somehow Porcello got out of the top of the first inning without allowing a run. Austin Meadows flied out to left before Tommy Pham grounded out to short. Brandon Lowe doubled to left but Avisail Garcia grounded out to second to end the inning. Chirinos easily cruised in the bottom of the first as Mr. Mookie Betts meekly grounded out to short to start. Andrew Benintendi hit a weak pop up to left and Rafael Devers' bunt attempt was snuffed out to end the inning.
The Rays went up for good in the top of the second when Ji-Man Choi blasted a home run all the way to Aruba to start. Yandy Diaz grounded out to second and Kevin Kiermaier grounded out to short. Willy Adames lined out to right to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the second inning as Xander Bogaerts grounded out to third to start. Mitch Moreland grounded out to second and Eduardo Nunez also grounded out to second to end the inning.
Somehow Porcello cruised in the top of the third inning as Mike Zunino grounded out to second to start. Meadows grounded out to first and Pham whiffed to end the inning. Brock "The Hitman" Holt meekly grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third before Jackie Bradley Jr ran away for strike three. Sandy Leon grounded out weakly to second to end the inning.
The Rays easily added to the lead in the top of the fourth inning as Lowe and Garcia both singled to start. A wild pitch moved both runners over but Choi popped up to left. Diaz whiffed but naturally Kiermaier singled home both runners to ice the game. Adames whiffed to end the inning but it was 3-0 Rays.
Chirinos kept the perfection in the bottom of the fourth as Mr. Mookie grounded out weakly grounded out to short to begin. Benintendi hit one up the elevator shaft and Devers whiffed badly to end the inning.
Somehow Zunino was rung up for strike three to open the top of the fifth before Meadows grounded out to first. Pham walked but Lowe flied out to right to end the inning. Still nothing for the Sox in the bottom of the fifth as Bogaerts grounded out meekly to second to start. Moreland grounded out weakly to second and Nunez popped up to short to end the inning.
The Rays poured it on in the top of the sixth as Garcia and Choi both singled to start. Diaz lined out to right but Kiermaier singled home Garcia with another run. Both runners moved over on the Adames ground out to first but Zunino flied out to center to end the inning with the Rays up 4-0. That was it for Porcello who once again flopped, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings.
The Sox finally got a rally going in the bottom of the sixth as Holt walked to start. JBJ got the Sox first hit of the game with a seeing eye single to left and Christian Vazquez pinch hit for Leon. Vazquez flied out to right but Mr. Mookie walked to somehow bring the tying run to the plate. Naturally Benintendi ran away for strike three and Devers whiffed at a pitch headed to the backstop to end the inning, what a waste.
Mitch Moreland suddenly keeled over in the dugout and had to be carried out on a stretcher, hauled off in an ambulance and rushed to Brigham & Women's ICU. Michael Chavis took over for him with Josh Taylor now on the mound for the top of the seventh. Meadows singled to right but Pham went down swinging. Meadows was thrown out at second trying to steal and Lowe lined out to center to end the inning. Bogaerts singled to center to start the bottom of the seventh but Chavis lined out to second. Nunez waived at strike three and Holt grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Rookie Mike Shawaryn made his major league debut in the top of the eighth and Garcia popped up to second to start. Choi went down hacking and Diaz lined out to second to end the inning.
Guillermo Heredia took over in right for the bottom of the eighth and JBJ swung and missed for strike three to start. Vazquez grounded out to second and Mr. Mookie flied out to right to end the inning.
Kiermaier added insult to injury when he bashed a home run all the way to Butte, Montana to lead off the top of the ninth. Adames took strike three, Zunino whiffed and Meadows went down hacking to end the inning. Nice of Shawaryn to get mad after allowing the home run but it was 5-0 Rays.
Emilio Pagan relieved Chirinos after 8 shutout innings and the Sox decided to rally. Benintendi doubled to center but Devers whiffed. Bogaerts doubled home Benintendi to get the Sox on the board. Chavis flied out to left and Nunez grounded out to third to end the game. The Rays had won it 5-1.
Jackass of the Night is Rick Porcello. Not the Sox had a chance in hell to hit Chirinos but Porcello didn't pitch well, giving up 4 runs in just 6 innings.
The Good:
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3.
Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 2.
Michael Chavis was 0 for 2.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 1.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 2.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3 but walked.
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Brock Holt was 0 for 2 but walked.
Mike Shawaryn allowed a run but struck out the side once in 2 innings of work in his ML debut
Final Thoughts:
Another loss to a team that's actually good this season. The magic of last season is long gone and this team just doesn't come back. Once the Sox go down they stay down. Then again, most of the time they're down multiple runs before they have a chance to blink. The pitching this season has been atrocious and Porcello stunk again. How did the guy that won the Cy Young award in 2016 completely fall apart by 2019? The less said of this garbage, the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 33-30, 6.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the Sox lose a day/night doubleheader to the Rays. Josh Smith is supposed to make the start for the Sox against Ryan Yarbrough in Game 1 at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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