Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. William Cuevas was sent back to Pawtucket and in his place is veteran minor league infielder Mike Miller. Cuevas was basically only here to give the tired Sox bullpen a rest the last few days and he did just that. Anything Miller gives until Chris Young comes back is a bonus.
As for the game, the Red Sox have officially hit rock bottom. If going 9-14 on the month wasn't bad enough, the Tampa Bay Rays came into tonight's game having lost 11 in a row. The Sox turned out to be the tonic the Rays needed as they pounded the daylights out of the Red Sox for 18 hits and 13 runs. Eduardo Rodriguez (1-3, 8.59 ERA) needs to go back to Pawtucket because he looks worse than ever. He looked timid and couldn't do anything right as the Rays pounded him for 11 hits and 9 runs. Surprisingly the Boston bats woke up to try to bop their way back in the game, scoring 7 runs off 12 hits of their own. Unfortunately the hole was too much to climb out of as the Rays snapped their 11 game losing streak and pasted the Sox 13-7 at Tropicana Field.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the second inning when David Ortiz grounded out to short to start. Hanley Ramirez popped up to second and Jackie Bradley Jr went down hacking to end the inning. Rodriguez tried to settle down in the bottom of the second as Forsythe was rung up for strike three to start. Beckham walked but Longoria lined out to center. Morrison reached on a nubber to short but Beckham was thrown out trying to steal third to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the third as Bryce Brentz beat the shift with a base hit but Sandy Leon popped up to center. Marco Hernandez hit a tapper to Morrison but Snell was out of position and everyone was safe on the hit. Mr. Mookie hit a liner to a running Jennings and Pedroia flied out to right to end the inning. The Rays finished off Rodriguez in the bottom of the third as Jennings hit a line drive home run into left on the first pitch. Arcia doubled to the left field wall and moved to third on the deep fly to center by Motter. Franklin lined a base hit past a diving Bogaerts to score Arcia with another run. Pedroia dropped a pop up by Casali and Franklin was forced at second as a result. Forsythe then smashed a home run all the way to Disney World to increase the lead. Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough and pulled the incompetent Rodriguez from the game. He was shelled for NINE runs in just 2 2/3 innings. Robbie Ross Jr came in and struck out Beckham swinging to end the inning with the Rays up 9-0.
The Sox did try to fight back in the top of the fourth as Bogaerts flied out to center to start. Ortiz walked and Ramirez hit a grounder up the middle for a base hit. JBJ took strike three that was actually outside but Brentz hit a gap shot to right. Ramirez and Ortiz scored but Brentz was thrown out at third trying to stretch a triple to end the inning with the Sox down 9-2.
Longoria flied out to the right field wall to open the bottom of the fourth and Morrison grounded out to second. Jennings walked but Arcia grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Sox blew a major rally in the top of the fifth as Leon took strike three to start. Hernandez singled up the middle but was forced at second by Mr. Mookie. Pedroia singled to center to send Betts to third and Bogaerts walked to load the bases. Ortiz walked home Betts to cut the lead and re-load the bases...but Hanley took strike three to end the inning with the Sox down 9-3.
The Rays tagged Tommy Layne in the bottom of the fifth as Layne threw a grounder by Motter all the way to Miami for an error. Franklin grounded out to short and Casali struck out swinging, but Forsythe doubled off the left field wall to score Motter. Pedroia leaped to snare a line drive by Beckham to end the inning with the Rays up 10-3.
The Sox blew another rally in the top of the sixth as JBJ drew a walk to start. Brentz flied out to left but Leon dumped a single to right to advance Bradley to third. Hernandez hit a roller to Morrison and the Rays were out of position again, allowing JBJ to score. That was it for Blake Snell as Ryan Garton came in to pitch. Mr. Mookie flied out to right and Pedroia popped up to Arcia to end the inning with the Sox down 10-4.
Junichi Tazawa came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Longoria dumped a base hit to left to start. Morrison lined out to Betts and Jennings struck out swinging before Arcia also went down hacking to end the inning.
Danny Farquhar came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Bogaerts grounded out to short to start. Ortiz flied out to the right field wall and Ramirez took strike three to end the inning. The Rays tagged Koji Uehara in the bottom of the seventh as Motter walked to start. Franklin launched his first home run of the season to right to put the Sox further behind. Uehara struck out Casali and Forsythe swinging and got Beckham to fly out to left to end the inning but the Rays were up 12-4.
The Sox did manage to tag Farquhar in the top of the eighth although JBJ earned a hat trick with a swinging strikeout to start. Brentz doubled down the left field line and Leon pulverized his first home run of the season to cut the lead. Hernandez flied out to the centerfield wall and Mr. Mookie also flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 12-6.
Sox manager John Farrell emptied the bench in the bottom of the eighth as Travis Shaw came in for Hanley, Ryan LaMarre came in for Betts and Mike Miller made his Sox debut by taking over for Pedroia. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch and Longoria hit a chopper off the glove of Hernandez for a "single" to start. Morrison struck the catwalk with a pop up but eventually struck out swinging. Jennings took strike three but Arcia singled Longoria to third. Motter hit one in the hole at short to score Longoria to increase the lead. Franklin needed a triple to hit for the cycle but watched strike three go by to end the inning with the Rays up 13-6.
Xavier Cedeno had mop up duty in the top of the ninth and Miller ended his first ML at-bat with a ground out to short to start. Bogaerts beat out an infield single to second and Christian Vazquez pinch hit for Ortiz. Vazquez dumped a base hit to center that send Bogaerts to third and Shaw scored Bogaerts with a sac fly to wrap up the scoring. Vazquez moved to second on defensive indifference but JBJ earned the golden sombrero with a swinging strikeout to end the game. The Rays had won it 13-7.
Jackass of the Night is Eduardo Rodriguez. E-Rod got lit up for NINE runs in just 2 2/3 innings to take the loss.
The Good:
David Ortiz walked twice, scored a run and drove in a run in four plate appearances.
Christian Vazquez singled as a pinch hitter.
Travis Shaw drove in a run in his only plate appearance.
Bryce Brentz was 3 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Sandy Leon was 2 for 4 with a 2 run home run.
Marco Hernandez was 3 for 4 with an rbi.
Robbie Ross tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Junichi Tazawa tossed a scoreless sixth inning.
The Bad:
Mike Miller was 0 for 1 in his ML debut.
Tommy Layne allowed a run in the fifth inning.
Koji Uehara allowed 2 runs in the seventh inning.
Craig Kimbrel allowed a run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 5 but scored a run.
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
Ryan LaMarre played right field in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Final Thoughts:
Nothing went right for the Boston Red Sox this month. Bad pitching, lack of offense, bad relief pitching, bad defense. You name it, it was all bad. The Sox can't get out of the month of June fast enough now that they're 9-15 on the month with two games left. The Sox are spiraling down the drain and the Sox are going to need some major pitching help if they're to get back in the AL East race. They're falling behind the Baltimore Orioles big time but at least they have a month before the trade deadline to pull off a winning streak or two. Rodriguez needs to go back to Pawtucket or back on the Disabled List because he looks completely lost out there. He's been a liability since he came off the DL and it may be time to put him back on it. Not only Rodriguez but the normally reliable Kimbrel and Uehara got tagged today too. The Rays had lost 11 in a row coming in so naturally they score a weeks worth of runs in one game. Hopefully the Sox can send them back to their losing ways in the next game. The loss dropped the Sox to 41-35, 4.5 games behind the Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to break their three game losing streak when they send "Slick" Rick Porcello (8-2) up against Tampa ace Chris Archer. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Tropicana Field.
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