As for the game, another day means another loss to a team in the AL East. The Tampa Bay Rays continued their dominance over the Boston Red Sox by finding new ways to humiliate them. This time it was a Little League inside the park home run that sank the Sox. Yandy Diaz capped off the Rays beat down of Tanner Houck (3-5, 5.46 ERA) and Corey Kluber with a routine base hit to right that turned into an inside the park home run thanks to throwing errors. Meanwhile Taj Bradley held the Sox to just 2 runs in 5 innings while the Rays bullpen allowed nothing after that. It all added up to an embarrassing 6-2 defeat at Fenway Park.
Houck got the ball in the top of the first and Diaz struck out swinging to start. Josh Lowe got a base hit to right and moved to second on the Randy Arozarena grounder to third. Harold Ramirez walked but Luke Raley grounded out to second to end the inning. Bradley got the ball in the bottom of the first and Alex Verdugo doubled to left to start. Rafael Devers grounded out to short to move Verdugo to third. Justin Turner struck out swinging and Masataka Yoshida lined out to left to end the inning.
Isaac Parades struck out swinging to start the top of the second and Taylor Walls lined out to first. Manny Margot took strike three to end the inning. Jarren Duran got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the second but Enrique Hernandez grounded into a double play. Triston Casas and Connor Wong drew back to back walks but Enmanuel Valdez struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Rays struck first in the top of the third as Christian Bethancourt walked to start. Diaz singled to right to move Christian to third and Bethancourt scored on the Lowe sac fly to center. Arozarena grounded out to short to move Diaz to third but Ramirez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0.
The Sox answered in the bottom of the third as Verdugo doubled to left to start. Devers struck out swinging but Turner grounded out to third. Yoshida got a base hit to right to score Verdugo and Duran popped up to short to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Raley got a base hit to right to start the top of the fourth and Parades walked. Walls beat out a roller in front of the mound to load the bases and Margot got a base hit to left. Yoshida booted the ball for an error to score both Raley and Parades. Bethancourt grounded into a double play and Diaz struck out swinging to end the inning with the Rays up 3-1.
Hernandez took strike three to start the bottom of the fourth and Casas lined out to first. Wong walked but Valdez took strike three to end the inning.
Lowe walked to start the top of the fifth and promptly stole second. Arozarena struck out swinging and Ramirez flied out to center, but Raley doubled to right to score Lowe. Parades popped up to second to end the inning with the Rays up 4-1. That was it for Houck who got hammered for 4 runs in just 5 innings off 5 hits & 4 walks.
The Sox answered in the bottom of the fifth as Verdugo tripled into the centerfield triangle to start. Devers hit a sac fly to right to cut the lead in half but Turner grounded out to third. Yoshida got a base hit to center but Duran struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 4-2.
Corey Kluber came in to take a beating in the top of the sixth as Walls hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Margot walked but Bethancourt flied out to left. Diaz then hit a routine base hit to right and Margot tried scoring all the way from first. The throw was offline and Wong tried to gun down Diaz at second....he failed. The throw went into centerfield and Diaz came all the way around to score as Fenway booed like crazy. Lowe doubled to center and Arozarena took strike three to end the inning with the Rays up 6-2.
Robert "Louis" Stephenson came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Hernandez walked to start. Casas walked but Wong struck out swinging. Valdez flied out to left and old pal Jake Diekman came in to face Verdugo. Alex grounded out to second to end the inning.
Ramirez grounded out to short to start the top of the seventh and Raley lined out to second. Parades flied out to left to end the inning. Devers popped up to short to start the bottom of the seventh and Turner grounded out to second. Yoshida lined out to left to end the inning.
Kaleb Ort came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Walls popped up to short to start. Margot struck out swinging and Bethancourt struck out swinging to end the inning. Shawn Armstrong came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Duran walked to start. Hernandez struck out swinging, Casas flied out to left and Wong struck out swinging to end the inning.
Diaz flied out to center to start the top of the ninth and Lowe grounded out to first. Arozarena struck out swinging to end the inning. Valdez flied out to left to start the bottom of the ninth before Verdugo flied out to left. Devers struck out swinging to end the game. The Rays had won it 6-2.
Jackass of the Night is Tanner Houck. He got rocked for 4 runs ins just 5 innings off 5 hits and 4 walks.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Jarren Duran was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Triston Casas walked twice in four plate appearances.
Kaleb Ort tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Justin Turner was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Enmanuel Valdez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Corey Kluber allowed 2 runs in 2 innings of work.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Masataka Yoshida was 2 for 4 with an rbi but his fielding error allowed a key run to score.
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Connor Wong was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts and a throwing error but walked twice.
Final Thoughts:
Its bad enough the Red Sox have offensive woes but bad defense just makes things worse. The errors by Yoshida and Wong really impacted the game. Not that the Sox were doing much offensively against Taj Bradley but taking away 2 of Tampa's runs by simply maintaining focus would have made things a bit easier. Tanner Houck once again getting batted around and Corey Kluber getting hammered just adds to the misery of this season. The Sox gambled by replacing Nathan Eovaldi with Kluber and it blew up in their face big time. One thing is for sure, if the Sox don't figure out how to beat the Rays or New York Yankees, they'll never be a winner. The loss dropped the Sox to 30-29, 11 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow against the Rays when Brayan Bello (3-3) takes on Shane McClanahan of Tampa. The game begins at 4:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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