Everyone's blood pressure is now significantly higher thanks to tonight's Boston Red Sox game against the Tampa Bay Rays. It what would have been a classic if it wasn't in April, the Sox and Rays battled to the very last pitch of the game. Boston pounded on an ineffective Corey Kluber for four early runs but couldn't score after the third inning. Michael Wacha (1-0, 1.88 ERA) won his first game with the Red Sox by holding the Rays to just two Wander Franco home runs in five innings. The Rays added a run against Matt Strahm in the seventh inning which set the stage for the ninth. Jake Diekman walked the bases loaded and with two outs, Matt Barnes was brought in to face Franco. Trevor Story made a great grab to rob Franco of a hit to end it. The Sox survived by the skin of their teeth to beat the Rays 4-3 at Tropicana Field.
Kluber got the ball in the top of the first inning and Trevor Story led off by beating out an infield single to short. Rafael Devers took strike three but Xander Bogaerts singled to right ro move Story to third. Alex Verdugo blooped a single to center to score Story and Kike Hernandez got a base hit to left to load the bases. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to second but Bogaerts scored to add to the lead. Bobby Dalbec lined out to right to end the inning but the Sox were up 2-0.
The Rays wasted no time getting to Wacha in the bottom of the first although Brandon Lowe grounded out to first to start. Wander Franco hit a home run all the way to Fort Worth, Texas to cut the lead and Randy Arozarena hit a routine grounder to Bogaerts. Bogaerts tried to field the ball in his hat and it went through for an error. JBJ made a great catch to rob Ji-Man Choi of a base hit and doubled off Randy at first to end the inning with the Rays down 2-1.
Travis Shaw struck out swinging to start the top of the second but Christian Vazquez singled to left. Story banged into a double play to end the inning. Yandy Diaz singled to center to start the bottom of the second but Josh Lowe flied out to left. Former Sox prospect Manny Margot flied out to left but Kevin Kiermaier walked. Mike Zunino popped up to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third as Devers crushed his third home run of the season to start. Bogaerts doubled to left and moved to third on the grounder to first by Verdugo before Hernandez singled to left to score Xander with another run. JBJ singled Hernandez to third but Dalbec flied out to right. JBJ swiped second but Shaw struck out swinging again to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
Brandon Lowe grounded out to first to start the bottom of the third but Story threw a routine grounder by Franco into the centerfield bleachers for an error. Arozarena hit one up the elevator shaft but Choi walked. Diaz lined out to short to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Vazquez flied out to right to start. Story grounded out to second and Devers grounded out to first to end the inning. Wacha cruised in the bottom of the fourth as Josh Lowe took strike three to start. Margot lined out to second and Kiermaier grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the fifth as Bogaerts blooped a single to center to start. Verdugo singled to left but Hernandez banged into a double play. Verdugo moved to third on a wild pitch and JBJ walked, but Dalbec grounded out to short to end the inning. The Rays struck again in the bottom of the fifth as Zunino took strike three to start. Brandon Lowe popped up to first but Franco hit another home run into the Baltic Sea to cut the lead. Arozarena took strike three to end the inning with the Rays down 4-2. As usual that was it for Wacha despite only throwing 81 pitches, he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in 5 innings.
Java Guerra came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Shaw lined out to center to start. Vazquez popped up to short and Story took strike three to end the inning. Austin Davis came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Choi struck out swinging to start. Diaz singled to left but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Josh Lowe went down hacking to end the inning.
Colin Poche came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Devers took strike three to start. Bogaerts grounded out to third and Verdugo flied out to left to end the inning. The Rays tagged Matt Strahm in the bottom of the seventh as Margot singled to right to start. Kiermaier forced Margot at second and Zunino hit a bullet to short. Bogaerts threw the ball away to put runners at the corners and Kiermaier scored on the grounder to short by Brandon Lowe. Zunino took second on the play amd Hansel Robles was brought in to pitch to Franco. Franco flied out to left to end the inning with the Rays down 4-3.
Phoenix Sanders came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Hernandez popped up to first to end the inning. JBJ struck out swinging and Dalbec grounded out to third to end the inning. Robles returned for the bottom of the eighth and Arozarena struck out swinging to start. Choi grounded out to first and Diaz grounded out to third to end the inning.
Sanders returned for the top of the ninth and Shaw lined out to right to start. Vazquez struck out swinging and Story flied out to center to end the inning. Jake Diekman came in to blow the save in the bottom of the ninth as Taylor Walls pinch hit for Josh Lowe and walked to start. Margot walked and Harold Ramirez pinch hit for Kiermaier and Story made a hell of a dive to force Margot at second to put runners at the corners. Brett Phillips pinch ran for Ramirez a Zunino walked to load the bases. Somehow Doekman froze Brandon Lowe for strike three and acting Sox manager Will Venable wanted Matt Barnes to pitch to Franco. Franco hit a bullet on the ground but Story snagged it and tossed to first to end the game. The Sox barely survived but hung on to win 4-3.
Hero of the Night is Trevor Story. He made not one but two outstanding defensive plays in the ninth to save the game.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Kike Hernandez was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Michael Wacha earned his first win with the Red Sox by tossing 5 innings and allowing 2 runs on just 3 hits.
Austin Davis pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Hansel Robles tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Matt Barnes got the final out in the ninth inning to earn the save.
The Bad:
Travis Shaw was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Matt Strahm was charged with an unearned run in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but the one hit was a home run.
Christian Vazauez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jake Diekman walked the bases loaded but got the first two outs of the ninth inning.
Final Thoughts:
That was too close for comfort but a win is a win. Once again the Sox got to a starter early but was shut down the rest of the way offensively. Once again pulling a starter early nearly backfired as the Sox needed 5 relief pitchers and nearly gave the game away. The Sox were Jekyll and Hyde on defense as they committed 3 errors but made some great defensive plays in the game. The bargain shopping for starters this past off-season and Michael Wacha may be their best pickup of the group. He's been pitching every well albeit only 5 innings at a time. Hopefully his workload increases before the bullpen's arms fall off like last year. Speaking of the bullpen, due to the Bogaerts error the bullpen held the Rays to just one run in the final four innings including stranding the bases loaded in the ninth. Diekman was ice water against the New York Yankees and piss water tonight. In 1982 the trio of Mark Clear, Bob Stanley and Luis Aponte rotated the closer's role and so far that seems to be the battle plan so far with Robles, Diekman and Barnes sharing duties. Its only one game so Diekman should bounce back next time. All in all it was a road win against a divisional rival and that's nothing to laugh at. The Sox look to make it two in a row tomorrow evening when Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock (1-0, 0.93 ERA) makes his first start in a Sox uniform against J.P. Feyereisen of Tampa. The game begins at 6:10 PM at Tropicana Field.
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