Rays Massacre Lifeless Red Sox (4/14/25)

Throughout the season the Boston Red Sox have been stumbling and bumbling, either not hitting well, not fielding well or not pitching well. Tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays the Red Sox did all three of them in one of the most embarrassing losses since the infamous game against Toronto in 2022. Tanner Houck (0-2, 9.16) got absolutely creamed for 12 runs in just 2 1/3 innings. He clearly had nothing but so did the Sox defense. Once again they made mental and physical errors that didn't help their beleaguered pitchers. Worse yet, the Boston bats were once again silenced by Shane Baz and the Tampa pitching. The Sox damn near had many strikeouts as a team (14) as the Rays scored runs (16). The Red Sox got just 6 hits, allowed  16 runs and committed yet another error as they lost a big one 16-1 to Tampa at Steinbrenner Field.

                                                         "TRADE THEM ALLLLLLL!!!"

Baz got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran flied out to to left to start. Rafael Devers struck out swinging and Alex Bregman grounded out to third to end the inning. The Rays set the tone early as Yandy Diaz hit the first pitch Houck threw in the bottom of the first into the Atlantic Ocean to put the Rays up for good one pitch into the game. Brandon Lowe lined out to third, Junior Caminero grounded out to short and Jonathan Aranda grounded out to short to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0.

                                                       That didn't take long

Wilyer Abreu took strike three to start the second inning before Trevor Story struck out swinging. Triston Casas struck out swinging to end the inning. The Rays absolutely pounded Houck in the bottom of the second as Christopher Morel singled in the hole at second to start. Kameron Minser hit a home run all the way into the Arctic Ocean to ice the game. Taylor Walls walked but old pal Danny Jansen popped up to second. Jake Mangum singled in the hole at short but Diaz took strike three. Lowe got a bae hit to center and Duran inexplicably threw to second base allowing both runners to score. Caminero forced Lowe at second to end the inning with the Rays up 5-0.

                                                         Misner hits one out of here

The Sox struck back in the top of the third as Kristian Campbell belted his third home run of the season to start. David Hamilton flied out to center, Carlos Narvaez popped up to first and Duran struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 5-1.

                                                        Home run Campbell

The Rays finished off Houck in the bottom of the third as Aranda singled to center to start. Morel got a base hit to left and Minser got a base hit in the hole at second to load the bases with nobody out. Walls beat out a double play ball to score Aranda and Bregman booted a grounder by Jansen for an error to score Minser. A wild pitch moved Walls to third and he scored on the base hit to center by Mangum. Jansen moved to third on the play and Mangum promptly stole second. Diaz got a base hit to right to score Jansen and Lowe walked to FINALLY chase Houck. He had absolutely nothing today, allowing 12 runs on 10 hits and 2 walks. Michael Fulmer made his Red Sox debut by allowing a base hit by Caminero to score Mangum. Aranda pounded a ground rule double to center to score Diaz & Lowe and Morel doubled to center to score both Caminero and Aranda. Misner walked but Walls flied out to right. Jansen struck out swinging with Tampa ahead 14-1.

                                                         Houck gets rocked

Devers took strike three to start the top of the fourth before Bregman grounded out to third. Abreu struck out swinging to end the inning. Mangum walked to start the bottom of the fourth but Diaz grounded into a double play. Lowe lined out to center to end the inning.

Baz turned up the heat in the top of the fifth as Story struck out swinging to start. Casas and Campbell both went down hacking to end the inning. Caminero hit a home run all the way to Argentina to start the bottom of the fifth before Aranda popped up to short. Morel took strike three and Misner popped up to short to end the inning with the Rays up 15-1.

                                                             Rays pour it on

Hamilton took strike three to start the top of the sixth before Narvaez grounded out to short. Duran got a base hit to center but Devers popped up to third to end the inning. Greg Weissert came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Walls struck out swinging to start. Jansen got a base hit to left but was forced at second by Mangum. Curtis Mead pinch hit for Diaz and struck out swinging to end the inning.

Coco Montes took over for Morel and Hunter Bigge came in to pitch the top of the seventh. Bregman and Abreu both struck out swinging, but Story got a base hit to center. Casas grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Josh Winckowski came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Lowe struck out swinging. Caminero struck out swinging and Aranda took strike three to end the inning.

Eric Orze came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Campbell got a base hit to left to start. Hamilton forced Kristian at second and Narvaez grounded into a double play to end the inning. Brennan Bernarino came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Montes grounded out to third to start. Misner clocked his second home run of the game to wrap up the scoring and Walls took strike three. Jansen grounded out to second to end the inning with the Rays up 16-1.

                                                         Misner does it again

Duran flied out to left to start the top of the ninth before Blake Sabol pinch hit for Devers. Sabol got a base hit to right but Bregman took strike three. Abreu got a base hit to right but Story flied out to center to end the game. The Rays had won it 16-1.

                                                                Rays win

Jackass of the Night is Tanner Houck. He got left out to dry by Cora and the defense but he still allowed 12 runs in just 2 1/3 innings off 10 hits and 2 walks.

                                                                  Jackass Houck

The Good:

Blake Sabol got a hit as a pinch hitter.

Kristian Campbell was 2 for 3 with a home run.

Greg Weissert tossed a scoreless inning.

Josh Winckowski pitched a scoreless inning.

The Bad:

Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.

Alex Bregman was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and an error.

Triston Casas was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.

David Hamilton was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Christian Narvaez was 0 for 3.

Brennan Bernardino allowed a run in the bottom of the eighth.

Michael Fulmer allowed 3 runs in 2 2/3 innings.

The Ugly:

Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.

Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.

Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Final Thoughts:

That was, without a doubt, the most humiliating loss of the season. They were in most of their games to begin the season but lately they aren't even competitive. The Sox allowed 16 hits and 16 runs while striking out 14 times at the plate. At what point do heads roll for this mediocre start to the season? They've changed some personnel around on the field but they're making the same errors, pitching terribly and not hitting well at all. Houck has looked like garbage since the second half of last season and once some of the injured starters come back, he'll be in the bullpen with Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman instead of Michael Fulmer or Sean Newcomb. Either way a change needs to be made because this clearly isn't working. After the game Alex Cora took the blame for not having his team prepared, but its also the players too. Hopefully they can snap out of it quickly before the AL East starts to slip away. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night when Walker Buehler takes on Ryan Pepiot of Tampa. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Steinbrenner Field.