The good news was the Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets in Game 3 of their first round NBA playoff series. The bad news was the Boston Red Sox invented a new way to lose against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox were legitimately no-hit by JP Feyereisen and the Rays bullpen for 9 innings, wasting a great performance by Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock and the Red Sox bullpen who shut out the Rays through 9 innings as well. Bobby Dalbec and Christian Vazquez drove in runs in the top of the tenth but a 2 out Trevor Story error led to Kevin Kiermaier hitting a walkoff home run to win it for Tampa. Hansel Robles served up the jack and it led to the 3-2 walkoff win by the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Feyereisen got the ball in the top of the first inning and Trevor Story led off with a pop up to first to begin. Rafael Devers struck out swinging and Xander Bogaerts flied out to center to end the inning. The Lock got the ball in the bottom of the first and Brandon Lowe struck out swinging to start. Wander Franco popped up to short and Randy Arozarena took strike three to end the inning.
Verdugo led off the top of the second by grounding out to short. Kike Hernandez hit one up the elevator shaft and Jackie Bradley Jr struck out swinging to end the inning. Ji-Man Choi struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Josh Lowe took strike three. Taylor Walls also was frozen for strike three to end the inning.
Javy Guerra came in to pitch the top of the third and Bobby Dalbec grounded out to short to start. Christian Vazquez grounded out to short and Rob Refsnyder made his Red Sox debut by drawing a walk. Story hit a routine grounder to second but Brandon Lowe booted it for an error. Old pal Jeffrey Springs came in to pitch and Devers popped up to second to end the inning. Kevin Kiemaier grounded out to short on the first pitch of the bottom of the third before Brett Phillips struck out swinging on three pitches. Mike Zunino grounded out to short on two pitches to end the inning.
Bogaerts struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth but Verdugo seemed to have beat out a roller to short. Rays manager Kevin Cash challenged the play and sure enough, the call was overturned to an out. Hernandez and JBJ drew back to back walks but Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning. Brandon Lowe got the first hit of the game with a double to right to start the bottom of the fourth but Franco flied out to right. Arozarena struck out swinging and Choi flied out to center to end the inning. That was it for Whitlock who held the Rays to just 1 hit in 4 innings of work.
Vazquez lined out to left to start the top of the fifth before Refsnyder grounded out to third. That was it for Springs and Jason Adams came in to pitch to Story. Story walked and stole second but Devers flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox no-hit through five. Austin Davis came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Josh Lowe flied out to center to start. Walls popped up to short but Kiermaier walked. Phillips flied out to right to end the inning.
Still no hits for the Red Sox in the top of the sixth as Bogaerts struck out swinging to start. Verdugo walked but Hernandez flied out to center. JBJ flied out to center to end the inning. For some reason acting Sox manager Will Venable turned to Kutter Crawford to pitch the bottom of the sixth. JBJ made a running grab on a Zunino liner to start before Lowe lined out to Story. Franco struck out swinging to end the inning.
Ryan Thompson came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Dalbec flied out to left to start. Vazquez flied out to right and Travis Shaw pinch hit for Refsnyder only to ground out to third to end the inning. Arozarena grounded out to third to start the bottom of the seventh and Choi struck out swinging. Josh Lowe struck out swinging to end the inning.
Andrew Kittredge came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Story popped up to first to start. Devers lined back to the mound on the first pitch and Bogaerts flied out to center on the first pitch to end the inning. The Sox were 3 outs away from being no-hit. Crawford returned for the bottom of the eighth and Walls struck out swinging to start. Kiermaier struck out swinging but Phillips singled to center, only for Zunino to fly out to center to end the inning. Kudos to Crawford for slamming the door in the last three innings.
Verdugo flied out to center to start the top of the ninth before Hernandez popped up to third. JBJ grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox had officially been no-hit through nine innings, 7 of which by the Rays bullpen. Tyler Danish came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Brandon Lowe walked to start. Franco forced Lowe at second and Arozarena hit into a double play to send the game to extras.
JBJ started at second with Matt Wisler on the mound for the top of the tenth. Somehow Dalbec tripled into the right field corner past the diving Phillips to put the Sox on top just like that. Vazquez hit a sac fly to left to score Dalbec but Shaw lined out to right. Story lined a base hit to left but Devers struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Hansel Robles came in to close out the bottom of the tenth with Arozarena starting at second base. Choi struck out swinging before Josh Lowe was caught looking. Arozarena moved to third on a balk but Walls hit a routine grounder to Story....thrown into the dugout for an error to score Arozarena. Walls swiped second and Kiemaier hit a walkoff two run home run to Kiermaier to end the game. The Rays had shocked the Red Sox with a 3-2 win.
Jackass of the Night is Trevor Story. His error led to the walkoff home run by Kiermaier.
The Good:
Rob Refsnyder walked in two plate appearances.
Garrett Whitlock allowed just 1 hit in 4 innings while striking out 7.
Austin Davis pitched a scoreless fifth inning.
Kutter Crawford tossed 3 scoreless innings.
Tyler Danish pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Travis Shaw was 0 for 2.
Hansel Robles took the loss by giving up the walkoff home run to Kiermaier.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 3 but walked.
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 3 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Bobby Dalbec was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
This is going to be a bad year. The Red Sox were literally no-hit through nine innings, scored two runs in the tenth only for the closer who hadn't been scored upon all season giving up a walkoff bomb to lose the game. Teams that are destined to win don't lose games like this in fashion like this. Story made the game winning play last night only to make the error to essentially lose the game tonight. The Sox offense that pretty much took the month off literally had no hits through nine innings. The big free agent signing Trevor Story and the two superstars that want superstar money (Devers and Bogaerts) did nothing against the Rays bullpen tonight. On the other side of the ball, the Sox pitchers were outstanding including the unsung heroes Crawford and Danish. Can't even blame Robles for a guy starting at second base and Story making the error at the end. The game should have been over and the Sox would have been laughing at the Rays. Instead everyone in baseball is now laughing at the under .500 Red Sox who can't score runs to save their lives. Its only one game and its only April but the season has a very bad vibe going on so far. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow when Rich Hill (0-1, 7.00 ERA) takes on Shane McClanahan of the Rays. The game begins at 1:10 PM at Tropicana Field.
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