Cobb took the mound in the top of the first and Xander Bogaerts hit a pathetic bloop to second to start. The Rays defense picked up where it left off last night as Steven Souza Jr made a great diving catch to rob Christian Vazquez of a hit. Andrew Benintendi hit a pathetic ground ball to short to end the inning.
Fans groaned as Kevin Kiermaier singled to open the bottom of the first. Somehow Porcello struck out Steven Souza Jr and got Evan Longoria to bang into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second inning when Mookie Betts smashed his 22nd homer of the year to left to give the Sox the lead. Mitch Moreland hit a total rocket that Souza Jr leaped and....DROPPED IT! Souza was no Kiermaier and Moreland took second with a double. Chris Young flied out to right and Moreland broke for third....but stopped. The throw by Souza airmailed everyone and Moreland broke for third again...but stopped again. He should have been thrown out at second but the throw was wide and Moreland made it back to second. After all of that, it was just a simple fly out. Rafael Devers whiffed and Brock Holt watched strike three go by to end the inning but it was 1-0 Boston.
Porcello cruised in the bottom of the second inning as Lucas Duda struck out to begin. Wilson Ramos and Corey Dickerson grounded out to short to end the inning.
Cobb cruised in the top of the third inning as Jackie Bradley Jr hit a weak ground ball to short to start. Bogaerts whiffed but Vazquez poked a single to right. Benintendi popped up to left but Cobb had already thrown 60 pitches. NESN was too busy listening to their sideline guy babble on about a Red Sox museum in Florida that they missed Adeiny Hechavarria hit a chopper over the head of Devers for a single. Brad Miller flied out to the left field wall and Mallex Smith lined out to center before the alert Vazquez gunned down Hechavarria trying to steal to end the inning.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the fourth as Betts grounded out to short on a full count, Moreland looked at strike three and Young grounded out to end the inning. Porcello whiffed Kiermaier to start the bottom of the fourth as Sox analyst Jarrod Saltalamacchia told a story of how he saw ghosts in the St Pete's Marriott years ago. Souza Jr lined out to right but Longoria doubled just inside the right field line. Longoria swiped third with nobody standing at third. Duda popped up to third to end the inning.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the fifth as Devers flied out to the centerfield wall to open the top of the fifth, but Holt poked a single to left. JBJ whiffed badly and Bogaerts grounded out to third to end the inning. Porcello matched Cobb as he got Ramos to ground out to third to start the bottom of the fifth. Dickerson singled to right but Hechavarria lined out to center. Miller grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the sixth when Vazquez with a single but was erased on the Benintendi force. Much to Saltalamacchia's delight, a balk was called on Cobb to advance Andrew to second. Benintendi swiped third when Cobb took forever to throw a pitch. Cobb got squeezed on a strike three pitch called a ball and Betts made him pay with a single to score Benny. Logan Morrison bolted out of the dugout and dove to tackle home plate umpire Jeff Nelson. He missed and was ejected from the game. That was it for Cobb as well as Rays manager Kevin Cash dragged Morrison away kicking and screaming while bringing in Dan Jennings to replace Cobb. Moreland walked but Young struck out against a lefty again. Devers then doubled down the left field line to increase the lead. Holt grounded out to short to end the inning but it was 3-0 Sox with Cobb out of the game.
Porcello continued his redemption in the bottom of the sixth although Smith hit a line drive to Devers, who threw his glove at it instead of catch it. Smith took first on the error but Kiermaier and Souza Jr both flied out to center. Longoria flied out to right to end the inning. Devers started punching the wall in the dugout but Sox manager John Farrell calmed him down, at least he cares unlike some other fat guy who used to play third base for the Sox.
Jacob Faria, one of the only guys not used last night came in to pitch the top of the seventh inning. He cruised as JBJ struck out, Bogaerts lined out to center and Vazquez grounded out to third to end the inning. Porcello returned for the bottom of the seventh inning and got Duda to pop up to first. Ramos grounded out to third and Holt made a great diving catch to rob Dickerson of a hit to end the inning.
Faria returned for the top of the eighth and Benintendi popped up to third to start. Betts popped up as well and Moreland flied out to left to end the inning. Things fell apart for Porcello as Hechavarria doubled to deep right to begin the bottom of the eighth, but Miller popped up to third. A ball four pitch to Smith got away and Hechavarria moved to third. All of a sudden John Farrell bolted out of the dugout and threw a full pouch of chewing tobacco at Porcello, bellowing to get off the mound. Farrell threw his hat down and demanded Addison Reed come into the game. Porcello had done his job to go 7 1/3 innings to save the bullpen. Reed came in and the Sox pissed themselves as Kiemaier grounded out to first when Moreland stepped on the bag, but pegged Smith with the throw to second. Hechavarria scored and Smith went all the way to third. Reed struck out Souza Jr to end the inning but it was 3-1.
The Sox offense was done for the night in the top of the ninth as Young popped up to first, Devers grounded out to second and Holt lined to short to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and blew away Longoria to start. Kimbrel struck out Duda
Hero of the Night is Rick Porcello. He threw 7 1/3 innings and allowed just an unearned run to give the team a lift after last night's marathon.
The Good:
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4.
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with 2 total rbis, 2 runs scored and his 22nd homer.
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Addison Reed got the final two outs of the eighth inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 33rd save with a scoreless ninth inning
The Bad:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Chris Young was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 but scored a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with an error but drove in a run.
Brock Holt was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
First the bad news. It looks like Hanley Ramirez and Eduardo Nunez both have season threatening injuries. Nunez has a sprained knee and Ramirez a bad arm. We don't know how long Ramirez should be out but Nunez will be back in a few weeks hopefully. Ramirez is addition by subtraction as he's been killing them at the plate but losing Nunez sucks because he's been their spark plug since they traded for him. Also, can someone explain to me what Chris Young and Brock Holt are doing on the team over Bryce Brentz at this point? Young has been terrible against lefties this year and Holt never recovered from his concussions/vertigo. Tzu-Wei Lin has had SIX at bats since July and do the Sox really need Fernando Abad or Heath Hembree in the bullpen with so many others available? Any four of these guys can be released to make room for Brentz because the Sox NEED the power and the bat off the bench. Now for the good news, THAT is the Porcello the Sox needed all season and he came through today. He had the Rays off-balance all game and it took an error by Moreland to screw up a shut-out. The offense is what it is at this point so the pitching is going to have to carry them the rest of the way with 14 games left. The win propelled the Sox to 85-63, 3 games in front of the scorching hot New York Yankees who are feasting on the same Baltimore Orioles team the Red Sox face starting Monday. The Orioles have allowed a franchise record 155 runs against the Yankees this year and they still have one more to play tomorrow. Meanwhile you know manager Buck Showalter hates the Red Sox and will do everything he can to motivate the troops on Monday. The Sox still have one game left in Tampa Bay tomorrow at 1:30 with Eduardo Rodriguez (5-5, 4.19 ERA) matched up with Jake Odorizzi with a sweep in sight. The Sox need the sweep because the Orioles are going to be very pissed off after getting swept out of wild card contention by the Yankees.
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