As for the game, another unmitigated disaster in a season full of them. The Sox took a 4-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays when the Rays promptly scored 6 runs off Sox starter Jhoulys Chacin and the JV bullpen. As been their M.O. all season, as soon as the Sox fell behind they failed to come back. Blake Snell was hittable for the Rays but the bullpen was not as the Rays took 3 out of 4 in this series with a 7-4 win at Tropicana Field.
Snell took the mound in the top of the first inning and Marco Hernandez went down swinging to start. Mr. Mookie Betts drew a walk but Rafael Devers struck out swinging as well. Mr. Mookie swiped second and JD Martinez walked before a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Sam Travis also went down swinging to end the inning. Chacin initially had a good bottom of the first as he struck out Joey Wendle swinging to begin. Tommy Pham went down hacking but Austin Meadows walked. Travis d'Arnaud flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second as Jackie Bradley Jr singled to center to begin. Gorkys Hernandez flied out to center, JBJ swiped second and Chris Owings walked. Sandy Leon hit one up the elevator shaft but Marco Hernandez pounded a ground rule double to put the Sox on top. That was it for Snell as Chaz Roe came in and got Mr. Mookie to pop up to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Chacin cruised in the bottom of the second as Ji-Man Choi grounded out to first to start. Avisail Garcia grounded out to short and Brandon Lowe grounded out to first to end the inning.
Peter Fairbanks came in for the top of the third and the Sox struck again. Devers flied out to left and Martinez grounded out to short, but Sam Travis keeled over in the dugout and had to be rushed to the local hospital's ICU. Mitch Moreland pinch hit for Travis and doubled to center before JBJ doubled Mitch home. Gorkys Hernandez grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Chacin blew away Kiermaier to begin the bottom of the third before Adames took strike three. Wendle grounded out to second to end the inning.
Austin Pruitt came in for the top of the fourth and the Sox nailed him too. Owings grounded out to first to start before Leon took strike three. Marco Hernandez walked and Mr. Mookie singled him to third. Devers singled home Hernandez and Martinez singled home Betts. Moreland walked to load the bases but JBJ missed the killshot by grounding out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
All of a sudden the Rays sprang to life in the bottom of the fourth although Pham whiffed to start. Meadows singled to right and d'Arnaud singled him to third. Choi then crushed a 970,000 foot home run to cut the lead. Garcia grounded out to third but Lowe smashed a 340,000 foot home run to tie the game and chase Chacin. He was nearly perfect for 3 1/3 innings but fell apart in a hurry.
Bobby Poyner came in to pour gas on the fire as Kiermaier was plunked and Adames cracked a 50,000 foot home run to put Tampa up for good. Wendle took strike three to end the inning but 3 Rays homers had given them the lead 6-4.
As been their M.O. all season, the Sox quit when they fell behind in the top of the fifth inning. Oliver Drake got Gorkys Hernandez and Chris Owings to strike out swinging before Leon grounded out to short to end the inning. Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez got the ball in the bottom of the fifth and Pham flied out to right to start. Meadows grounded out to first and d'Arnaud struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox quit in the top of the sixth inning as Marco Hernandez grounded out to second to start. Mr. Mookie lined out to center and Devers grounded out to first to end the inning. The Rays wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the sixth as Choi doubled to start. Garcia doubled home Choi but was thrown out at third trying to stretch by Mr. Mookie. Lowe whiffed and Kiermaier flied out to right to end the inning with the Rays up 7-4.
Daniel Robertson took over for Lowe but was at third with Wendle moving to second and Nick Anderson on the mound for the top of the seventh. Martinez and Moreland both struck out swinging but JBJ dumped a base hit to center. Gorkys Hernandez grounded out to third to end the inning. Heath Hembree materialized out of thin air to pitch for the first time since August 1st in the bottom of the seventh inning. Adames lined out to center to start before Wendle grounded out to second. Pham flied out to right to end the inning. Welcome back Hembree!
Diego Castillo came in for the top of the eighth and Owings whiffed to start. Leon flied out to center and Marco Hernandez grounded out to third to end the inning. Brian Johnson came in for the bottom of the eighth and Meadows singled to start. d'Arnaud whiffed and Choi flied out to center before Jesus Aguilar pinch hit for Garcia. Aguilar walked and Guillermo Heredia pinch ran for him. Robertson whiffed to end the inning.
Emilio Pagan came in for the top of the ninth and the Sox rallied. Mr. Mookie and Devers stroked back to back singles to start but Martinez flied out to right. Colin Poche came in to pitch and Christian Vazquez pinch hit for Moreland...just to strike out swinging. Xander Bogaerts pinch hit for JBJ...just to take strike three to end the game. The Rays had won it 7-4.
Jackass of the Night is Bobby Poyner. He allowed the go ahead home run to Adames that the Sox could got recover from.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 3 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Brian Johnson pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Sam Travis struck out in his only at bat.
Christian Vazquez struck out as a pinch hitter.
Xander Bogaerts struck out as a pinch hitter.
Gorkys Hernandez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 4 but struck out.
Jhoulys Chacin gave up 4 runs in just 3 2/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Marco Hernandez was just 1 for 4 but walked, drove in a run and scored a run.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 but walked and drove in a run.
Chris Owings was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Hector Velazquez allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Good thing this season is almost over because I can't stand watching this garbage anymore. The Sox keep throwing out scrubs to pitch and they hardly ever come back when trailing. It doesn't matter if its the Tampa Bay Rays or the Perkins Institute for the Blind, every game is the same this month more or less. The only thing left to look forward to is if Eduardo Rodriguez can get to 20 wins or not because this is unbearable at this point. It was nice to see Heath Hembree make his return, if nothing else than one less inning per game for one of the interchangeable scrubs. The loss dropped the Sox to 81-75 with just 6 games left in the season. The Sox now travel to Texas for their final road trip of the season. Eduardo Rodriguez (18-6) continues his march towards 20 wins when he goes up against Edinson Volquez at 8:05 PM Eastern time at Arlington Park.
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