The good news was the Boston Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in double overtime of Game 1 of their first round NHL playoff series, the bad news was the Boston Red Sox lost to the Tampa Bay Rays. Talk about hitting rock bottom. Ryan Weber tossed 6 innings of one run ball and JD Martinez hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth.....too bad Zack Godley (0-2, 8.16 ERA) actually started the game and allowed 8 runs in just 3 innings to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Martinez grand slam was when the Sox were already down 8 runs and the Rays held on to beat the Sox. It was the Rays 7th consecutive victory in Boston and the Rays scored eight runs for the third game in a row to beat the Sox 9-5 at Fenway Park.
The Rays wasted zero time getting to Godley in the top of the first inning. Austin Meadows flied out to center but Brandon Lowe singled to right, Yandy Diaz singled off the glove of Michael Chavis and Ji-Man Choi walked to load the bases. Joey Wendle grounded out to first but Lowe scored to put the Rays up for good 6 batters into the game. Yoshi Tsutsugo flied out to center to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0.
The Sox did the exact opposite against Tampa starter Blake Snell in the bottom of the first. Kevin Pillar got a base hit to left but naturally Rafael Devers banged into a double play. JD Martinez grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Rays iced the game in the top of the second as Willy Adames hit a 7,000 foot home run to increase the lead to start. Kevin Kiermaier and Michael Perez both struck out swinging and Meadows hit a routine pop up to right....that Pillar lost in the lights and it dropped for a hit. Naturally Lowe pounded a 100,000 foot home run to ice the game. Diaz lined out to right to end the inning. If fans were there, they'd be booing as the Sox trailed 4-0.
Naturally the Sox rolled over and died in the bottom of the second as Xander Bogaerts grounded out to third to start. Christian Vazquez whiffed but Chavis singled and stole second. Naturally with a man on second, Alex Verdugo whiffed to end the inning.
The Rays poured it on in the top of the third as Choi doubled to right but Wendle whiffed. Tsutsugo then effortlessly hit a home run into the Merrimack River to add to the lead. Adames hit one up the elevator shaft but Kiermaier singled to left. Perez hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning but it was 6-0 Rays.
Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed to open the bottom of the third and Jose Peraza lined out to left. Pillar singled to left but was foolishly thrown out trying to stretch a double to end the inning.
The Rays finished off Godley in the top of the fourth as Meadows walked to start. Lowe doubled him to third and Diaz singled him home to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Godley allowed 10 hits and was charged with 8 runs, Brian Johnson must be laughing his ass off. Ryan Weber came in and got Choi to bang into a double play which scored Lowe. Wendle took strike three to end the inning and the Rays were up 8-0.
The Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the fourth although Devers lined out to left to start. Martinez struck out but the ball got away from the catcher so JD took first. Bogaerts got a base hit to left but Vazquez popped up to third and Chavis took strike three to end the inning.
Tzu-Wei Lin took over for Bogaerts to begin the top of the fifth and Tsutsugo took strike three to start. Adames grounded out to short and Kiermaier singled to right, but Perez grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the fifth as Verdugo flied out to center, JBJ grounded out to second and Peraza whiffed to end the inning.
Weber cruised in the top of the sixth as Meadows grounded out to second to start. Lowe took strike three and Diaz lined out to right to end the inning. Aaron Siegers took over for Snell to begin the bottom of the sixth and Pillar singled to left to start. Devers whiffed, Pillar moved to second on the Martinez grounder and Lin grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Anyone else sick and tired of the Sox getting a man on and doing nothing while the Rays get a man on and hit shots all over Fenway?
Jonathan Arauz gave Devers the rest of the night off in the top of the seventh as Choi grounded out to first to start. Wednle singled to right but Tsutsugo banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the seventh as Vazquez flied out to center to start. Chavis grounded out to second and Verdugo grounded out to short to end the inning.
Adames whiffed to begin the top of the eighth but Kiermaier singled to right. Perez banged into a double play to end the inning. Somehow the Sox exploded in the bottom of the eighth as JBJ beat out an infield single to second to begin. Peraza singled to left and Pillar singled to right to load the bases. Arauz singled to left to score JBJ and Martinez pounded a grand slam to dead center to somehow put the Sox back in the game. Lin singled to second to chase Siegers as Nick Anderson came in. Vazquez and Chavis whiffed but Verdugo got a base hit to right to shockingly get the tying run to the plate after being down 8-0 since the fourth inning. Naturally JBJ grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox showed some life to trail 8-5.
Naturally the only run allowed by Weber in his outing would come when the Sox desperately needed a shutdown inning. Meadows hit the third pitch of the top of the ninth all the way to Neptune to increase the lead. Lowe flied out to left but Diaz singled to right. Manny Margot pinch ran for Diaz and he moved to second on a grounder to first by Choi. Wendle flied out to center to end the inning with the Rays ahead 9-5. If you were to tell me before the game Weber would throw 6 innings of 1 run ball, why else would I expect the one run to come in the one inning they needed a clean frame?
Hunter Renfroe came in for Tsutsugo with Pete Fairbanks now on the mound for the bottom of the ninth. The Sox went quietly as Peraza grounded out to short, Pillar whiffed and Arauz grounded out to first to end the game. The Rays had won it 9-5.
Jackass of the Night is Zack Godley. The incompetent starter allowed 8 runs off TEN hits in 3 plus innings.
The Good:
Kevin Pillar was 4 for 5 with a run scored.
Jonathan Arauz was 1 for 2 with an rbi and a run scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 2.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 1 for 2.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a grand slam.
Michael Chavis was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but stole a base.
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Jose Peraza was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
As the season continues to spiral down the drain what is there left to say? The pitching sucks, the offense sucks and this whole situation sucks. Unless another Covid outbreak happens, we still have 42 games to go. The only positive is the Luxury Tax resets after August 31st so if the season can hang on, the Sox will finally rid themselves of Pablo Sandoval, Rusney Castillo and Hanley Ramirez' contracts. They still have another year of David Price and Dustin Pedroia but Dustin could make things easier by retiring. Its very clear the Sox need starting pitching and they'll have the money for it next year. As for this year, once again we have 42 games left of this nonsense. The positives were Ryan Weber tossing 6 innings of 1 run ball in relief and JD Martinez clocking a grand slam. That's about it. The news gets even better as Tampa Bay goes for the sweep tomorrow afternoon. Tyler Glasnow goes for the Sox against 2016 19th round draft pick Kyle Hart making his MLB debut. The carnage begins at 4:30 PM at Fenway Park.
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