Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Matt Hall was once again sent back to the Alternate Training Site and in his place none other than Nathan Eovaldi was activated off the Injured List to start tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. With so many pitchers now on the injured list, Eovaldi needs to go deep into games if nothing else but to save who's left in the bullpen.
OUT
IN
As for the game, at least the Sox were competitive tonight. Nathan Eovaldi made his first start in two weeks and did well for 3 innings. Then Ron Roenicke pulled him and guess what happened? That's right, the Sox bullpen allowed 4 runs in the next 6 innings. The Sox offense managed to make a game of it with home runs from Michael Chavis and Christian Arroyo, but Rays starter Tyler Glasnow was tough and the Rays bullpen slammed the door in the ninth. At least it was competitive, but the Rays still beat the Sox 5-4 at Tropicana Field.
Alex Verdugo led off the top of the first against Glasnow with a base hit to second to start. Rafael Devers whiffed and Verdugo started the steal parade by swiping second. Verdugo moved to third on the Xander Bogaerts grounder but JD Martinez whiffed to end the inning. Eovaldi made his return in the bottom of the first and Austin Meadows greeted him with a home run to Jupiter to put the Rays up. Brandon Lowe grounded out to first and Randy Arozarena grounded out to second, but Ji-Man Choi doubled to left and Joey Wendle was plunked to load the bases. Willy Adames whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second as Kevin Plawecki popped up to short to start. Jackie Bradley Jr popped up to third and Yairo Munoz whiffed to end the inning. Nate Lowe grounded out to first to start the bottom of the second but Manny Margot singled to center. Margot was thrown out trying to steal by the alert Plawecki and Michael Perez struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox got to Glasnow in the top of the third when Michael Chavis launched his third bomb of the year to tie the game. Christian Arroyo lined out to center, Verdugo grounded out to short and Devers grounded out to first to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Meadows whiffed to start the bottom of the third before Brandon Lowe flied out to center. Arozarena whiffed to end the inning and that was it for Eovaldi. Even though there's only two weeks left in the season, Sox manager Ron Roenicke decided not to push Eovaldi any further. Oh well.
The Sox stole Glasnow blind in the top of the fourth inning as Bogaerts walked to start. Martinez lined out to left but Xander swiped second, then third. Plawecki singled home Bogaerts to put the Sox on top but was forced at second by JBJ. JBJ swiped second which prompted Sox analyst Jerry Remy to quip "I'm 67 and I can steal on this guy." Munoz flied out to center with the Sox ahead 2-1.
Chris Mazza came in to crap his pants in the bottom of the fourth inning Choi walked to start before moving to second on the Wendle strikeout. Adames walked and Nate Lowe singled home Choi who pulled a hamstring sliding home. Margot doubled home Adames and Lowe to give the Rays the lead. Margot moved to third on the Perez grounder and Meadows whiffed to end the inning with the Rays ahead 4-2.
Chavis swung and missed for strike three to start the top of the fifth but the ball got away from the catcher so Michael reached at first. Arroyo flied out to center but Chavis swiped second. Chavis then forgot how many outs there were when he trotted home on a pop up to third by Verdugo, getting doubled off of second to end the inning. Nice going Chavis! Mazza returned for the bottom of the fifth and Brandon Lowe grounded out to second to start. Arozarena took strike three and Yoshi Tsutsugo pinch hit for Choi just to fly out to center to end the inning.
Devers singled to third to start the top of the sixth before moving to second on a wild pitch. Bogaerts grounded out to third, Martinez struck out swinging and Plawecki flied out to center to end the inning. Wendle singled to center to start the bottom of the sixth but Adames flied out to left. Nate Lowe whiffed but Wendle swiped second. Margot struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the seventh as JBJ singled to center to start. Munoz whiffed but JBJ stole second. Chavis took strike three but Arroyo clobbered his first home run of the year to tie the game. Verdugo grounded out to third to end the inning with the game tied 4-4.
Marcus Walden came in to wreck the day in the bottom of the seventh although Perez grounded out to short to start. Meadows whiffed but Brandon Lowe crushed a home run to Neptune to give the Rays the lead. Arozarena whiffed to end the inning but the Rays led 5-4.
Nick Anderson came in for the top of the eighth and the Sox went quietly. Devers struck out swinging, Bogaerts flied out to left and Martinez flied out to center to end the inning. Jeffrey Springs came in for the bottom of the eighth and Tsutsugo popped up to third to start before Wendle whiffed. Adames went down hacking to end the inning.
Diego Castillo came in to close out the top of the ninth with Brett Phillips now in right. Plawecki swung at air to start before JBJ watched strike three go by. Munoz hit a ground rule double to left to put the tying run at second but Chavis grounded out to third to end the game. The Rays had won it 5-4.
Rays win
Walden the Jackass
Jackass of the Night is Marcus Walden. He gave up the backbreaking homer in the bottom of the seventh.
The Good:
Christian Arroyo was 1 for 3 with a 2 run home run.
Nathan Eovaldi allowed 1 run in 3 innings while striking out 4.
Jeffrey Springs tossed a scoreless inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Chris Mazza allowed 3 runs in 3 innings.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 but stole a base.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 but walked, stole bases and scored a run.
Kevin Plawecki was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but stole 2 bases and scored a run.
Yairo Munoz was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Michael Chavis was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but stole a base and hit a solo home run.
Final Thoughts:
Its a good thing there are only 13 games left because now they're running out of expendable bums to pitch. Sox manager Ron Roenicke refusing to let some of these guys throw 5-6 innings regardless of the score wore down every arm they didn't trade. Colten Brewer, Zac Godley, Austin Brice, Josh Taylor and Darwinzon Hernandez all developed arm trouble from damn near pitching every game. Eovaldi was cruising in this game but Roenicke pulled him after 3 damn innings. Either you let him go or you shut him down, why waste the bullpen that already needed to pitch the whole game last night? Just 13 more games and Roenicke will be gone too. As of right now the Sox are percentage points ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the worst record in baseball. Kumar Rocker appears to be the number 1 overall pick regardless of who gets it although the consensus is Rocker's teammate Jack Leiter is another top rated pitcher that could go second. Leiter is the son of former New York Mets and Yankees pitcher Al Leiter. If Kumar is the real deal it won't be the end of the world if the Sox do end up the worst in baseball. As sad as it sounds, the Sox still could have won this game but couldn't crack the Rays bullpen. The loss dropped the Sox to a miserable 16-31 on the season, last place in the AL East. The Sox play their final regular season game with the Rays tomorrow afternoon. Martin Perez (2-4, 4.40 ERA) goes for the Sox against Charlie Morton at 1:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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