Boston Red Sox general manager Dave Dombrowski has officially handed the AL East championship off to the New York Yankees on a silver platter. The MLB trade deadline passed and Dombrowski did absolutely nothing, sending a message that the Red Sox better win with what they got. Well, they didn't win tonight and pretty much are screwed for the remainder of the season. The Tampa Bay Rays beat down "Slick" Rick Porcello (9-8, 5.74 ERA) for 6 runs in 5 2/3 innings. The Sox offense tried to fight back with 5 runs of their own but Heath Hembree allowed 2 more runs in the seventh inning. Once again once the Sox were down in the later innings, they were finished and the Rays won it 9-8 at Fenway Park.
The Rays wasted no time tagging Porcello in the top of the first inning as Ji-Man Choi doubled to right to start. Austin Meadows struck out swinging but Travis d'Arnaud put the Rays up for good with a base hit to center to score Choi. Nate Lowe struck out swinging and Avisail Garcia grounded into a force to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0.
Andrew Kittredge got the start for Tampa in the top of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts struck out swinging to start. Rafael Devers flied out to left and Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Rays iced the game in the top of the second inning as Kevin Kiermaier hit a home run to South America to increase the lead. Matt Duffy grounded back to the mound and Eric Sogard took strike three, but Willy Adames singled to right. Choi walked and Meadows smashed a home run to Neptune to ice the game. d'Arnaud grounded out to short to end the inning with the Rays up 5-0.
JD Martinez lined out to short to start the bottom of the second and Andrew Benintendi struck out swinging. Sam Travis got a base hit to right but Christian Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Porcello settled down in the top of the third as Lowe lined out to first to start. Garcia singled to third but Kiermaier went down hacking. Duffy flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the third although Michael Chavis grounded out to short to start. Jackie Bradley Jr took first on an error by Lowe and Mr. Mookie singled him to third. Ryan Yarbrough came in to pitch and Devers scored JBJ with a sac fly to cut the lead. Bogaerts popped up to second to end the inning with the Sox down 5-1.
Sogard lashed a base hit to center to start the top of the fourth and moved to second on the Adames grounder to third. Choi popped up to second and Meadows flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Martinez belted his 23rd homer of the season to cut the lead. Benintendi grounded out to second, Travis popped up to second and Bazquez flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox down 5-2.
d'Arnaud singled to short to start the top of the fifth but Lowe flied out to left. Garcia struck out swinging and Kiermaier grounded into a force to end the inning. Chavis singled to right to start the bottom of the fifth but JBJ popped up to short. A passed ball moved Chavis to third but Mr. Mookie took strike three. Devers grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Rays finally chased Porcello in the top of the sixth although Duffy took strike three to start. Sogard took strike three but Adames smashed a home run all the way to Brazil to chase the angry Porcello. As soon as Rick got in the dugout, he punched and broke both TV's that Sox manager Alex Cora uses to check the bullpens. Rick lasted just 5 2/3 innings while giving up 6 runs. Darwinzon Hernandez came in to pitch and Choi doubled to center. Meadows struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 6-2.
Bogaerts popped up to second to start the bottom of the sixth Martinez singled off the glove of Lowe but was forced at second by Benintendi. Travis grounded out to first to end the inning.
Heath Hembree came in to crap his pants in the top of the seventh as d'Arnaud struck out swinging to start. Lowe walked but Garcia struck out swinging. Kiermaier tripled home Lowe and Duffy singled Kevin in to ice the game. A wild pitch moved Duffy to second but Sogar flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 8-2.
The Sox rallied in the bottom of the seventh although Vazquez struck out swinging to start. Chavis somehow launched his 17th home run of the season to cut the lead. JBJ whiffed but Mr. Mookie doubled to right Devers singled Betts home and Diego Castillo came in to pitch, Bogaerts singled Devers to third and Martinez got a base hit to center to score Devers. How big was the Duffy single now? Colin Poche came in and Benintendi whiffed to end the inning with the Sox down 8-5.
Chavis goes yard
Josh Taylor came in for the top of the eighth and Adames flied out to center to start. Choi and Meadows both went down hacking to end the inning. Guillermo Heredia came in for Meadows for the bottom of the eighth and Travis singled to right to start. The rally ended as Vazquez, Chavis and Bradley all went down hacking to end the inning.
Marcus Walden came in to pitch the top of the ninth and d'Arnaud struck out swinging to start. Lowe whiffed and Garcia went down hacking to end the inning. Mike Zunino came in for Lowe but behind the plate with Chaz Roe now on the mound to close out the bottom of the ninth. Mr. Mookie singled to center to start then moved to second on the Devers grounder. Betts moved to third on the Bogaerts grounder but Martinez walked to bring the tying run to the plate. Benintendi took strike three to end the game. The Rays had won it 8-5.
Jackass of the Night is Rick Porcello. He was shelled for 6 runs in 5 2/3 innings to take the loss. He hit the TV's harder than he attacked the Rays batters.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 3 for 5 with a run scored.
JD Martinez was 3 for 4 with a walk, home run and 2 total rbis.
Sam Travis was 2 for 4.
Michael Chavis was 2 for 4 with a home run.
Darwinzon Hernandez got the final out of the sixth inning.
Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Marcus Walden pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Heath Hembree allowed 2 runs in the seventh inning.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 but drove in 2 runs and scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Good luck to the Rays and New York Yankees in their battle for AL East supremacy. Dave Dombrowski essentially handed them the keys to the kingdom due to his inactivity at the trade deadline. Everyone on the planet knew the Sox needed another pitcher either in the bullpen or in the rotation because what they have clearly isn't good enough. To add insult to injury, when Dombrowski was asked by the media why he didn't make a move he quipped "You would not believe the offers I got for our relief pitchers." No Dave, I don't believe it. Because any GM knows that if you're gonna blow a team up, you do it. If you look to add a piece, you do it. Doing absolutely nothing is the worst thing you can do. Tonight's game isn't half as important as the ramifications from being idle at the deadline. How could Dave see Porcello, David Price, Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi struggling and think this was good enough to win? What if one or more of those guys get hurt? The loss drops the Sox to 59-50, 10 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to avoid a sweep when they send Andrew Cashner (1-3) to the mound up against Brendan McKay of the Rays. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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