Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Josh Taylor was placed on the Injured List with left shoulder tendinitis. In his place the Sox didn't call up any top level prospects, they called up somebody named Domingo Tapia. I know Sox GM Chaim Bloom is desperate to get the first overall pick, but he's bordering on being fined by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred for being blatantly obvious about tanking.
The good news was the Boston Celtics eliminated the Toronto Raptors in Game 7 of their second round NHL playoff series but the bad news was the Boston Red Sox lost to the Tampa Bay Rays. What a massacre. It seems the Rays offense hits .200 against everyone else and a Jack Parkman-esque .900 against the Red Sox. Once again Tampa had a field day with the incompetent Red Sox pitching staff, pounding out 12 hits and 11 runs. The sad thing was the Sox offense had 11 hits themselves but couldn't get a clutch hit against Tampa ace Blake Snell. Matt Hall (0-3, 18.69) continued to be the hands down worst pitcher in baseball by allowing 4 runs in just 2 1/3 innings as the Rays effortlessly beat the Sox 11-1 at Tropicana Field.
Snell got the ball in the top of the first inning and cruised. Alex Verdugo grounded back to the mound to start before Rafael Devers went down hacking. Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. Andrew Triggs got the "start" for the Sox in the bottom of the first and Austin Meadows popped up to first to start. Joey Wendle grounded out to second but Brandon Lowe singled to second. Lowe stole second and Ji-Man Choi walked, but Kevin Kiermaier grounded out to second to end the inning.
Christian Vazquez lined out to right to start the top of the second before Kevin Plawecki grounded out to second. Jackie Bradley Jr doubled to left but Bobby Dalbec whiffed to end the inning. The Sox threw in the towel early when they brought in Matt Hall to replace Triggs in the top of the second. Yoshi Tsutsugo effortlessly hit the longest home run of his career to start but Nate Lowe struck out swinging. Brett Phillips grounded out to second but Michael Perez singled to left. Meadows grounded out to second to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0.
Chavis walked to start the top of the third but Arroyo banged into a double play. Verdugo and Devers stroked back to back singles but Bogaerts grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Rays struck again in the bottom of the third as Wendle and Brandon Lowe stroked back to back singles to start. Choi lined out to center and the runners pulled off a double steal. Kiermaier grounded out to short to score Wendle with another run. Tsutsugo lined out to left to end the inning.
Vazquez singled to left to start the top of the fourth but Plawecki flied out to right. Vazquez tried to steal second and was thrown out by a mile before JBJ lined out to center to end the inning. The Rays finished off Hall in the bottom of the fourth as Nate Lowe singled to left to start. Phillips whiffed but Perez walked. Meadows doubled home both runners to ice the game. Wendle walked and that was it for Hall. The worst pitcher of the team (and that's saying something) lived up to his billing by turning a 0-0 game into a rout in less than three innings. Phillips Valdez came in and got Brandon Lowe to bang into a double play to end the inning with the Rays up 4-0.
Dalbec walked to open the top of the fifth but Chavis whiffed to start. Arroyo struck out swinging and Verdugo lined out to left to end the inning. Valdez cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Choi lined out to third to start. Kiermaier whiffed and Tsutsugo took strike three to end the inning.
Devers grounded out to first to open the top of the sixth but Bogaerts singled to left. Vazquez hit a routine grounder to Tsutsugo who tried to run over and tag Bogaerts himself rather than throw the ball and everyone was safe. Pete Fairbanks replaced Snell and Plawecki banged into a double play to end the inning. 29 year old "rookie" Domingo Tapia made his MLB debut in the bottom of the sixth and naturally Nate Lowe hit his first home run of the season off of him to start. Phillips flied out to center and Perez flied out to left, but Meadows walked. Wendle whiffed to end the inning with the Rays up 5-0. Welcome to the club of useless relievers.
John Curtiss came in for the top of the seventh and JBJ flied out to left to start. Dalbec singled to right but Chavis flied out to center. Arroyo grounded into a force to end the inning. Robinson Leyer came in to take a beating in the bottom of the seventh as Brandon Lowe whiffed to start. Lowe and Kiermaier drew back to back walks and Tsutsugo singled home Choi. Nate Lowe then pulverized his second homer of the day to turn this into a laughter. Robert Stock came in and Phillips popped up to third. Perez grounded out to first to end the inning with the Rays up 9-0.
Need to break a slump? Face the Red Sox
Ryan Sherriff came in for the top of the eighth and Verdugo singled to left to begin. Devers singled to center but Bogaerts beat out a double play to put runners at the corners. Vazquez banged into a double play to end the inning. Jonathan Arauz came in to play third for the bottom of the eighth with Tzu-Wei Lin taking over for Bogaerts at short. Meadows took strike three but Wendle doubled to right and took third on a wild pitch. Brandon Lowe walked and Choi doubled home Wendle. Kiermaier grounded out to second but Lowe scored to wrap up the scoring. Tsutsugo whiffed to end the inning with the Rays hanging 10+ runs on the Sox again with their now 11-0 lead.
Aaron Loup had mop up duty in the top of the ninth but the Sox rallied. Plawecki lined out to left but JBJ doubled to left and Dalbec doubled to right to score Bradley. Chavis singled Dalbec to third but Arroyo took strike three. Verdugo grounded out to second to end the game. The Rays had won it 11-1.
Jackass of the Night is Matt Hall. He allowed the 4 runs to put the Rays up for good.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 5.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Bobby Dalbec was 2 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Michael Chavis was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Andrew Triggs tossed a scoreless inning.
Phillips Valdez tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 4.
Chistian Arroyo was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Domingo Tapia allowed a run in an inning of work.
Robinson Leyer allowed 4 runs in 1/3 of an inning.
Robert Stock allowed 2 runs in 1 2/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4.
Honorable Mention:
Jonathan Arauz played third base in the bottom of then eighth.
Tzu-Wei Lin played shortstop in the bottom of the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
14 games left....we're almost there. Even if the Sox are a .500 team next year it'll be a huge improvement over what Sox fans had to endure this season. I know the goal was not to win but there's a difference in being competitive and being dragged across the field for 3 hours. The Sox became the first team to lose 30 games this season and most of them have been blowouts. Hopefully none of the pitchers they have left will be around next year. Somehow Chaim Bloom has to fix the entire pitching staff from top to bottom. They need a new closer, new set-up men, new long men and new starters. Its going to take a hell of an effort but it can be done. As for this game? The less said about this disaster the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 16-30, good for last place in the AL East. Tomorrow evening the Sox face the Rays again when they pick a name out of a hat to start against Rays ace Tyler Glasnow at 6:40 PM at Tropicana Field.
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