Another day, another loss for the Boston Red Sox. The Sox did themselves no favors against Tampa Bay Rays starter Nick Martinez as they went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position with 9 men left on base. Martinez left in the sixth inning and the Rays bullpen didnt allow a run. Meanwhile Payton Tolle (1-2, 1.99 ERA) gave up 3 runs in 5 innings and the game was essentially over in the third inning. The Rays got a run off Zack Kelly in the sixth as the Sox continued their slide with a 4-1 victory by the Rays at Fenway Park.
The Rays wasted no time getting to Tolle in the top of the first and Chandler Simpson grounded out to first to start. Junior Caminero hit a home run all the way into the Charles River to put the Rays up for good just two batters into the game. Ben Williamson grounded out to second and Yandy Diaz grounded out to third to end the inning with the Rays up 1-0.
Martinez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran grounded out to second to start. Willson Contreras was hit in the hand with a pitch but Wilyer Abreu hit a rocket....right to Ryan Vilade at first. Masataka Yoshida grounded out to second to end the inning.
Contreras came off the field and ran all the way to Mass General holding his hand and Andruw Monasterio took his place for the top of the second. Vilade got a base hit to right and was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double before Cedric Mullins popped up to first. Jonny DeLuca struck out swinging to end the inning. Trevor Story struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second but Mickey Gasper doubled off the Monster. Marcelo Mayer struck out swinging and Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Rays blew the game open in the top of the third as Nick Fortes got a base hit to center to start. Taylor Walls dropped down a bunt to move Fortes to second and Simpson hit a routine grounder...booted by Story to score Fortes. Caminero flied out to right but Williamson got a base hit to right to score Simpson to ice the game. Diaz got a base hit to right but Vilade struck out swinging to end the inning with the Rays up 3-0.
The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the third as Caleb Durbin was hit with a pitch and immediately tried to run to second base, getting thrown out. Duran grounded out to second and Monasterio doubled off the Monster. Abreu grounded out to first to end the inning.
Mullins got a base hit to center to start the top of the fourth but was immediately picked off. Deluca struck out swinging and Fortes popped up to third to end the inning. Yoshida got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the fourth and Story was soundly booed for swinging at strike three in the dirt. Gasper grounded out to first to move Yoshida to second but Mayer grounded out to second to end the inning.
Tolle was allowed one more inning in the top of the fifth as Walls flied out to center to start. Simpson flied out to right and Caminero struck out swinging to end the inning. Tolle was finished after 5 innings and just 81 pitches. He was charged with 3 runs off 7 hits.
Rafaela grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fifth and Durbin lined out to center. Duran got a base hit to right and Monasterio got a base hit to center to move Durbin to third. With two men on....Abreu popped up to short to end the inning.
Zack Kelly crapped his pants in the top of the sixth as Williamson walked to start. Diaz flied out to right and Aranda got a base hit to right to move Williamson to third. Tyler Samaniego came in to pitch to Mullins and Cedric dropped down a squeeze bunt to score Williamson. DeLuca lined out to center to end the inning with the Rays up 4-0.
Yoshida grounded out to first to start the bottom of the sixth but Story doubled off the Monster. Gasper hit a seeing eye single to right to score Story to break up the shutout. Mayer grounded out to second to move Gasper to second and chase Martinez. Kevin Kelly came in to pitch and Rafaela swung at strike three in the dirt to end the inning with the Sox down 4-1.
Justin "Incinerator" Slaten came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Fortes struck out swinging to start. Walls grounded out to first and Simpson flied out to center to end the inning. Durbin grounded out to short to start the bottom of the seventh and Caminero robbed Duran of a base hit. Monasterio hit a rocket....to Walls to end the inning.
Greg Weissert came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Caminero flied out to center to start. Williamson walked and Diaz grounded out to first to move Ben to second. Sox manager Chad Tracy wanted Jovani Moran to face Aranda grounded out to third to end the inning. Garrett Cleavinger came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Abreu struck out swinging to start. Carlos Narvaez pinch hit for Yoshida and struck out swinging. Story took strike three to end the inning.
Mullins flied out to right to start the top of the ninth and DeLuca walked. Fortes grounded into a double play to end the inning. Bryan Baker came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Gasper doubled to left to start. Mayer walked to bring the tying run to the plate but Rafaela struck out swinging. Durbin grounded out to third to move the runners over but Duran flied out to left to end the game. The Rays had won it 4-1.
Jackass of The Night is Ceddanne Rafaela. He went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts including a rally killer in the sixth & ninth.
The Good:
Willson Contreras was hit with a pitch and had to leave the game.
Andruw Monasterio was 2 for 3.
Masataka Yoshida was 1 for 3.
Mickey Gasper was 3 for 4 with an rbi.
Jovani Moran tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Justin Slaten tossed a scoreless inning.
Greg Weissert got the first two outs of the eighth inning.
The Bad:
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Carlos Narvaez was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Zack Kelly allowed a run in the sixth inning.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 5.
Caleb Durbin was 0 for 3 but was hit with a pitch.
Trevor Story was just 1 or 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts and an error but scored a run.
Marcelo Mayer was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Payton Tolle took the loss but allowed just 3 runs, only one earned in 5 innings off 6 hits.
Tyler Samaniego allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in 2/3 of an inning.
Final Thoughts:
This team can't score when it matters at all. How many games do they get multiple runners on and can't cash in. Where is the power? Losing Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers hurt but the Sox power has COMPLETELY evaporated. Apart from Contreras none of these guys are hitting the longball consistently and that was a staple of last year's offense. The pitching has been carrying the team so far this year but the offense has been historically bad. This is reaching 1992 and 2014 levels and we're barely out of April. Tolle didn't even pitch that bad but the Sox didn't generate any offense. The team might need to be blown up eventually, otherwise they can't possibly play like this all season....right? The loss dropped the Sox to 17-23, 10 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox are back in action Tuesday night against Kyle Schwarber and the Philadelphia Phillies. Zack Wheeler goes for the Phillies against Captain TBD of Boston. The game begins at 6:45 PM at Fenway Park.
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