As usual, the Boston Red Sox faltered against an AL East team. Once again the Tampa Bay Rays established their dominance over the Sox by beating them when it counted. The Rays jumped out to a 5-1 lead, knocking out Boston starter Cooper Criswell in the fourth inning. The Sox rallied to cut the lead in the bottom of the fifth and managed to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth with a Jarren Duran home run, but then came the ninth inning. Kenley Jansen (1-1, 3.45 ERA) allowed two runs in the top of the ninth and the Sox once again failed in the clutch in the bottom of the ninth. It all added up to a bitter 7-5 defeat by the Rays at Fenway Park.
Criswell got the ball in the top of the first inning and Yandy Diaz grounded out to short to start. Josh Lowe struck out swinging and Randy Arozarena struck out swinging. Littell got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Jarren Duran grounded out to second to start. Wilyer Abreu flied out to center and Rob Refsnyder struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Rays struck first in the top of the second as Jonathan Aranda walked to start. Isaac Parades got a base hit to right to move Aranda to third and it looked like Richie Palacios grounded a ball off his foot. The umpire ruled it a fair ball and Dominic Smith retired Richie at first, but Aranda scored. Jose Caballero lined out to left and Ben Rortvedt grounded out to first to end the inning but the Rays were up 1-0.
The Sox answered in the bottom of the second as Rafael Devers mashed his sixth home run of the season to tie the game. Smith flied out to left but Garrett Cooper was hit with a pitch. Reese McGuire forced Cooper at second but Vaughn Grissom got a base hit inside the bag at third. Naturally with two men on Ceddanne Rafaela flied out to left to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
The Rays went up for good in the top of the third as Jose Siri walked to start. Diaz grounded out to short but Lowe hit a home run all the way to Egypt to put the game away. Arozarena got a base hit just past Criswell before moving to second on a grounder to first by Aranda. Parades popped up to third to end the inning with the game already over, 3-1 Rays.
The Sox blew another rally in the bottom of the third as Duran doubled to center to start. Jarren moved to third on a grounder to second by Abreu but Refsnyder popped up to right. Devers struck out swinging as the boo's started to rain down.
Palacios struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth but Rafaela threw another grounder away by Caballero for an error. Naturally Rortvedt doubled off the Monster and a wild pitch scored Caballero Diaz grounded out to short to score Rortvedt and that was it for Criswell. He got hammered for five runs in just 3 2/3 innings allowing 4 hits and 2 walks. Brennan Bernardino came in to get Lowe looking to end the inning with the Rays up 5-1.
The Sox blew yet another rally in the bottom of the fourth as Smith got a base hit to right to start. Palacios dropped a double play grounder hit by Cooper but McGuire flied out to right. Grissom beat out a double play ball but Rafaela struck out swinging to end the inning as more boos rained down.
Arozarena flied out to center to start the top of the fifth before Aranda lined a base hit to center. Parades struck out swinging and Palacios grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox woke up in the bottom of the fifth as Duran doubled to center to start. Abreu flied out to right to move Duran to third and Refsnyder beat out a roller to first. Devers walked to load the bases but Smith could only score Duran with a grounder to first. Suddenly Cooper doubled off the Monster to score both runners to cut the lead. McGuire flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox down 5-4.
Zack Kelly came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Caballero walked to start. Caballero was thrown out at second trying to steal but Rortvedt walked. Siri struck out swinging but Diaz and Lowe drew back to back walks to load the bases. Arozarena grounded out to short to end the inning with the Rays drawing four walks but not scoring. Kevin Kelly came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Grissom grounded out to short to start. Rafaela grounded out to short but Duran clobbered his second home run of the season to tie the game. Abreu flied out to left to end the inning with the game tied 5-5.
Justin Slaten came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Aranda struck out swinging. Parades struck out swinging and Palacios took strike three to end the inning. Garrett Cleavinger came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Refsnyder grounded out to short to start. Devers struck out swinging but Romy Gonzalez pinch hit for Smith. Gonzalez walked but Cooper struck out swinging to end the inning.
Chris Martin came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Caballero singled to center to start. Caballero moved to second on a grounder to first by Rortvedt and Harold Ramirez pinch hit for Siri. Ramirez lined out to center and Diaz grounded out to first to end the inning. Johnny DeLuca came in for Ramirez with Manuel Rodriguez in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and McGuire grounded out to second to start. Grissom struck out swinging and Rafaela flied out to right to end the inning.
Kenley Jansen came in to take a beating in the top of the ninth as Lowe struck out swinging to start. Arozarena walked and Aranda got a base hit to right to move Randy to third. Parades lashed a base hit off the Monster to score Arozarena and move Aranda to third. Palacios hit a sac fly to center to score Aranda with the insurance run. Caballero struck out swinging to end the inning with the Rays ahead 7-5.
Controversy erupted in the bottom of the ninth with Jason Adam in to close out the bottom of the ninth. Duran flied out to right to start and Abreu struck out swinging. Refsnyder walked and Devers singled down the third base line to move Refsnyder to third. The catcher then came out to talk to Adam and alert Sox manager Alex Cora came out to argue that they were out of mound visits, therefore, they needed to take the pitcher out. The umpires got together and sure enough, Cora was right and Adam got the heave ho. Erasmo Ramirez came in to face Gonzalez but Romy grounded back to the mound to end the game. The Rays had won it 7-5.
Jackass of the Night is Kenley Jansen. He took the loss by allowing the go ahead runs to score in the top of the ninth.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 3 for 5 with a home run and two total runs scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with a walk, a home run and two total runs scored.
Dominic Smith was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Garrett Cooper was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch and 2 rbis.
Brennan Bernardino tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Zack Kelly tossed a scoreless inning.
Justin Slaten pitched a scoreless inning.
Chris Martin pitched a scoreless inning.
The Bad:
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Reese McGuire was 0 for 4.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and an error.
Cooper Criswell allowed 5 runs in 3 2/3 innings off four hits and 2 walks.
The Ugly:
Rob Refsnyder was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Romy Gonzalez was 0 for 1 but walked.
Vaughn Grissom was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
What deal with the devil did John Henry make for the 2018 World Series title that now the Sox can't beat the AL East anymore? The Rays beat the Sox two out of three again and they did it with offense. On paper they have a weak lineup but they STILL outhit the Sox when it mattered. Jansen had been solid lately but tonight he got tagged. Even so, the Sox bats went completely asleep after Duran tied the game and its been a theme all season of failure in the clutch. Criswell getting knocked out early didn't help but can't blame Cora for that one. The Sox look like they're crashing down to earth against superior competition and we're only halfway through May. Abreu, McGuire and Rafaela going 0 for 13 with 2 strikeouts and an error certainly didn't help. If the Sox are crashing down to earth, they could be sellers at the deadline in two months. Hopefully that doesn't happen. The loss dropped the Sox to 22-22, 7.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox now travel to St. Louis for a three game set with the Cardinals. Brayan Bello (4-1) takes on old nemesis Kyle Gibson of the Cardinals. The game begins at 8:10 PM Eastern time at Busch Stadium.
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