For the first time in five years, the Boston Red Sox have swept the Tampa Bay Rays out of Tampa Bay. Brayan Bello (5-2, 4.04 ERA) got rocked early by the Rays, allowing three runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Sox rallied against Ryan Pepiot and Richard Lovelady as Ceddanne Rafaela drove in David Hamilton with the first run. Connor Wong knocked in Vaughn Grissom and Rafaela to tie the game then back to back singles by Rob Refsnyder and Dominic Smith off Kevin Kelly put the Sox ahead. In the top of the sixth Jarren Duran doubled home Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu hit a two run bomb to ice the game. The Rays got a run off Cam Booser in the seventh and a run against Zack Kelly in the ninth but it wasn't enough. The Sox had swept the Rays out of Tampa with a 8-5 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Pepiot got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran lined out to right to start. Wilyer Abreu walked but Connor Wong popped up to first. Rafael Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Bello got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Yandy Diaz grounded out to second to start. Josh Lowe struck out swinging but Randy Arozarena walked. Brandon Lowe forced Arozarena at second to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the second inning as Rob Refsnyder got a base hit to center to start. Dominic Smith walked but David Hamilton took strike three. Vaughn Grissom flied out to right and Ceddanne Rafaela struck out swinging to end the inning. The Rays struck in the bottom of the second as Isaac Parades walked to start. Jonathan Aranda doubled to right and Jose Caballero got a bases clearing single to left. Richie Palacios walked and both runners moved over on the Ben Rortvedt fly ball to center. Diaz grounded out to first to score Caballero and Jonny DeLuca pinch hit for Josh Lowe. DeLuca grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Rays up 3-0.
Duran flied out to left to begin the top of the third before Abreu grounded out to first. Wong grounded out to short to end the inning. Arozarena got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the third before Brandon Lowe took strike three. Parades grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Devers walked to open the top of the fourth but Refsnyder grounded into a double play. Smith grounded out to third to end the inning. Aranda struck out looking to begin the bottom of the fourth but Caballero got a base hit to right. Caballero stole second but Palacios popped up to short. Rortvedt struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox exploded in the top of the fifth as Hamilton walked to start. Grissom was hit with a pitch and Rafaela got a base hit to center to score Hamilton. Richard Lovelady came in for Pepiot on the mound and Duran struck out swinging. Abreu singled in the hole at short to load the bases and Wong got a base hit to left to score both Grissom and Rafaela. Abreu moved to third on the hit but Devers got him thrown out at home on a grounder to first. Kevin Kelly came in to pitch for Lovelady and Refsnyder stepped up with a base hit to right to score Wong, moving Devers to third. Smith got a base hit to left to score Devers and move Refsnyder to third. Hamilton lined out to left to end the inning with the Sox up 5-3.
The rally rejuvenated Bello as Diaz grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fifth. DeLuca lined out to second and Arozarena grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox took command in the top of the sixth as Grissom struck out swinging to start. Rafaela hit a grounder to third but Parades dropped the throw for an error. Duran made them pay with a double to left to score Rafaela and Abreu smashed his fifth home run of the season to ice the game. Wong grounded back to the mound and Devers grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox up 8-3.
Bello returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth as Lowe walked to start. Parades popped up to second and Aranda struck out swinging. Caballero took strike three to end the inning. Bello finished his outing with 6 innings allowing 3 runs off 4 hits and 4 walks.
Phil Maton came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Refsnyder grounded out to third to start. Smith and Hamilton both struck out swinging to end the inning. The Rays tagged Cam Booser in the bottom of the seventh as Palacios got a base hit to right to start. Rortvedt walked but Palacios moved to third on a fly ball to left by Diaz. Sox manager Alex Cora yanked Booser and Greg Weissert came in just to allow a base hit past Devers by DeLuca, scoring Palacios. Arozarena struck out swinging an d Lowe grounded out to first to end the inning with the Rays down 8-4.
Shawn Armstrong came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Grissom lined out to center to start. Rafaela grounded out to third and Duran grounded out to second to end the inning. Zack Kelly came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Parades grounded out to third to start. Aranda walked but Caballero forced him at second. Palacios got a base hit to right but Rortvedt grounded out to first to end the inning.
Pete Fairbanks came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Abreu popped up to first to start. Wong took strike three and Devers flied out to right to end the inning. Kelly returned for the bottom of the ninth and Diaz hit a home run all the way to Barcelona to start. DeLuca flied out to right, Arozarena struck out swinging and Lowe hit one up the elevator shaft to end the game. The Sox had won the game 8-5.
Hero of The Night is Wilyer Abreu. His two run home run in the sixth was the killshot that the Rays couldn't rally past.
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The Good:
Rob Refsnyder was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Rob Refsnyder was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Dominic Smith was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Brayan Bello earned the win with 6 solid innings allowing 3 runs off 4 hits and 4 walks. He also struck out six batters.
The Bad:
Cam Booser was charged with a run in 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Connor Wong was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but drove in two runs and scored a run.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
David Hamilton was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.
Vaughn Grissom was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Ceddanne Rafaela was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored two runs.
Greg Weissert allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in 2/3 of an inning.
Zack Kelly allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Don't look now but the sweep of the Rays was their first in five years at the Trop but more importantly, that's their fourth win in a row. A nice little winning streak for sure has them solidly in third place. Baltimore lost both games of their doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals so the Sox actually gained ground on them too. Injuries aside, the Sox may not be able to catch the New York Yankees but they might be better than Tampa or Toronto. Bello had early inning trouble but hung on to go six and the bullpen got tagged for a couple of runs, but the Sox bats came through. Down 3-0, everyone contributed with a hit or a walk to set up a run scored or a home run. Abreu continued his early march to AL Rookie of The Year with another home run while Refsnyder continued to be this year's version of Brock Holt with another two hits. The Sox keep getting bad news on the injury front whether its Garrett Whitlock or Masataka Yoshida but they're winning games. The win improved the Sox to 26-24, 7.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox are back in action Friday night at home against the Milwaukee Brewers. Kutter Crawford (2-2, 2.17 ERA) gets the start against Bryse Wilson of Milwaukee. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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