As for the game, what a kick in the balls that was. The Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays fought tooth and nail for 10 innings in an actually exciting game....they just didn't win. The Rays broke out to a 3-0 lead on Brayan Bello and the Red Sox only for Boston to tie it in the sixth. The Rays got runs in the seventh and ninth to take a 7-5 lead only for the Sox to tie it again. The Rays took the lead in the top of the tenth against Aroldis Chapman but the Sox answered in the bottom of the frame. Zack Kelly (1-3, 6.61 ERA) imploded in the top of the 11th allowing two runs the Sox couldn't answer. It all added up to a 10-8 victory for Tampa in 11 innings over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Bello got the ball in the top of the first inning and Josh Lowe struck out swinging to start. Brandon Lowe flied out to left and Yandy Diaz grounded out to second to end the inning. Baz got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start. Rafael Devers whiffed and Abraham "El" Toro fanned to end the inning.
Jonathan Aranda went down hacking to start the top of the second and Junior Caminero popped up to first. Jake Mangum got a base hit to left and Kameron Misner doubled to left, but Taylor Walls grounded out to first to end the inning. Trevor Story got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the second but Roman Anthony made his MLB debut by flying out to left. Kristian Campbell grounded back to the mound to move Story to second and Marcelo Mayer walked. Ceddanne Rafaela walked to load the bases and Connor Wong beat out a roller to third to score Sto....wait a second. The Rays challenged Wong was out, and sure enough, replays showed he was to end the inning.
Old friend Danny Jansen grounded back to the mound to start the top of the third and Hosh Lowe grounded out to short. Brandon Lowe flied out to left to end the inning. Duran grounded out to third to start the bottom of the third and Devers grounded out to second. El Toro grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Rays struck first in the top of the fourth as Diaz got a base hit to right to start. Aranda singled to right but Caminero was called out on the infield fly rule and Aranda was thrown out at second to move Diaz to third. The gamble worked as Mangum singled in the hole at short to score Diaz. Misner grounded out to first to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0.
Story took strike three to start the bottom of the fourth and Anthony lined a ball off Baz, but was thrown out by Caminero. Campbell grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Rays struck again in the top of the fifth and Walls grounded out to second to start. Jansen was hit with a pitch and moved to second when Josh Lowe grounded out to third. Brandon Lowe singled to left to score Jansen and Diaz got a base hit to right....booted by Anthony for an error. Brandon Lowe scored and Diaz made it to third, but Aranda struck out swinging to end the inning with the Rays ahead 3-0.
The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fifth as Mayer hit a ground rule double down the left field line to start. Rafaela beat out a roller to second to put runners at the corners but Wong grounded into a double play, scoring Mayer. Duran grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
Mayer scores a run
Bello had one last inning in the top of the sixth as Caminero grounded out to short to start. Mangum took strike three and Misner hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the sixth as Devers walked to start. El Toro was hit with a pitch but Story struck out swinging to chase Baz. Garrett Cleavinger came in and Anthony was frozen for strike three. Campbell was plunked to load the bases and Romy Gonzalez pinch hit for Mayer and doubled to right to score both Devers and Toro to tie the game. Rafaela struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Naturally the Rays answered in the top of the seventh as Walls walked to start. Jansen popped up to short and that was it for Bello. He'd be charged with 4 runs in 6 1/3 innings off 7 hits and a walk. Brennan Bernardino came in and Walls stole second before Josh Lowe doubled him home. Curtis Mead pinch hit for Brandon Lowe and Bernardino threw away the pickoff throw. Mead took strike three and Diaz was intentionally walked....only for Bernardino to throw a wild pitch to score Josh Lowe. Aranda got a base hit to center to score Diaz and that was it for Bernardino. Luis Guerrero got Caminero to fly out to center to end the inning with the Rays up 6-3.
Bello deserved better
Jose Caballero took over for Mead with Eric Orze on the mound in the bottom of the seventh. Wong walked to start and Duran doubled to right.....but Devers struck out swinging. El Toro grounded out to second to score Wong and Manuel Rodriguez came in to face Story. Trevor got a base hit to left to score Duran then stole second. Anthony walked but Campbell struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 6-5.
Mangum flied out to right to start the top of the eighth and Misner grounded out to short. Walls got a base hit in the hole at third but Jansen flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox blew another rally in the bottom of the eighth as Gonzalez grounded out to second to start. Rafaela singled off the glove of Caminero and David Hamilton pinch hit for Wong. Hamilton popped up to third and Pete Fairbanks came in to pitch to Duran. Rafaela stole second but Duran struck out swinging to end the inning.
Carlos Narvaez took over behind the plate to start the top of the ninth and Josh Lowe lined out to left to start. Caballero walked then proceeded to steal second, then third. Diaz walked and Aranda hit a sac fly to center to score Caballero. Caminero lined out to left to end the inning with the Rays up 7-5.
The Sox rallied in the bottom of the ninth as Devers walked to start. El Toro doubled to center but Story flied out to right. Anthony grounded out to short to score Devers and move Toro to third. Down to their final out....Campbell singled in the hole at second to score Toro to tie the game. Gonzalez got a base hit to right to move Campbell to third then took second on defensive indifference. With the winning run at third....Rafaela popped up to short to end the inning with the game tied 5-5.
Campbell ties it up
Aroldis Chapman came in to pitch the top of the tenth with Caminero starting at second. Mangum got a base hit to left to move Caminero to third and Christopher Morel pinch hit for Misner. Morel struck out swinging but Walls hit a sac fly to center to score Caminero. Jansen struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 6-5.
Walls puts Tampa on top
Ian Seymour came in to close out the bottom of the tenth with Rafaela starting at second. Things looked bleak when Narvaez took strike three and Duran flied out to left, but Devers was intentionally walked. Toro hit a routine grounder to Aranda....WHO THREW THE BALL AWAY! Rafaela scored and Devers moved to third representing the winning run. Naturally Story flied out to right to end the inning but the game was tied 8-8.
Zack Kelly came in to pitch the top of the 11th with Jansen starting at second. Josh Lowe walked and Caballero dropped down a bunt to move the runners over. Diaz struck out swinging but Aranda was intentionally walked to load the bases. The gamble failed as Caminero walked to score Jansen to put the Rays up again. Mangum got a base hit in the hole at first to score Lowe but Morel popped up to first to end the inning with the Rays up 10-8.
Rays take the lead again
Story started the bottom of the 11th at second and Rob Refsnyder pinch hit for Anthony. Refsnyder walked to put the tying run on but Campbell lined out to left. Things got messy when Gonzalez should have walked but home plate umpire Junior Valentine called him out for strike three. When the pitch was shown to be nowhere close, Sox manager Alex Cora ran out of the dugout with a bat and tried to take a swing at Valentine. He was restrained by alert Fenway security and escorted out of there. Instead of bases loaded and one out, it was 2 on 2 out and Rafaela lined out to short to end the game. The Rays had won it 10-8 in 11 innings.
Rays win
Nice walk, Jackass
Romy Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis.
David Hamilton was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Jackass of the Night is Zack Kelly. He gave up the go-ahead runs in the top of the 11th.
The Good:
Trevor Story was 2 for 6 with an rbi and a stolen base.
Rafael Devers walked 3 times in 6 plate appearances and scored 2 runs.
Rob Refsnyder walked as a pinch hitter.
Marcelo Mayer was 1 for 1 with a walk and a run scored.
Romy Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 5 with a walk, stolen base and run scored.
The Bad:
David Hamilton was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Carlos Narvaez struck out in his only at-bat.
Brennan Bernardino allowed 2 runs in 1/3 of an inning plus made an error.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 6 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Abraham Toro was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but was hit with a pitch, drove in a run and scored two runs.
Roman Anthony was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and drove in a run.
Kristian Campbell was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but was hit with a pitch and drove in a run.
Connor Wong was 0 for 2 but walked and scored a run.
Brayan Bello was charged with 4 runs in 6 1/3 innings off 7 hits and a walk while striking out 4.
Luis Guerrero allowed a run in 2 1/3 innings.
Aroldis Chapman allowed an unearned run in the tenth inning.
Final Thoughts:
It would be easy to blame Junior Valentine for this one because he really did blow the call, but he shouldn't have been in that position to begin with. The Red Sox bullpen got tagged for SIX runs after Bello left the game and the Sox bats had their chances with men on base in the ninth and tenth to finish it, but they didn't. Kelly had 2 on and 2 out but Cora made him walk Aranda, then he gave up a walk and a hit. Can't blame Valentine for that. The Sox were in good spirits after taking two of three from the Yankees but this kind of loss can demoralize a team. They came back to tie the game 3 times and couldn't hold the Rays off. Still, maybe it'll inspire them since it took a hell of an effort by Tampa to win this one. The Sox may get pitching tomorrow and or turn the tables on them. Kudos to Roman Anthony for his first career rbi and to Kristian Campbell for getting a clutch hit in the ninth. The kids are the future, hopefully the future is soon. The loss dropped the Sox to 32-36, 9 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night when Lucas Giolito (1-1) goes for the Sox against Ryan Pepiot of Tampa Bay. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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