Down 3-1, the Tampa Bay Rays came from behind to defeat the Boston Red Sox on Monday, 4-3.
At 75-58 on the season, Tampa Bay is again 17 games over .500 and is 3-1 on their current home stand.
Luis Patiño got the start Monday and gave up three runs on five hits (including a first-inning home run) and three walks across five innings. He struck out four and coaxed 14 swinging strikes (15% SwStr%). He had mostly good command except for a two-batter stretch in the third inning when things appeared to go sideways. Patiño had retired six consecutive batters after getting the first out in the inning, but then walked Tommy Pham and Alex Verdugo on a total of just nine pitches. Xander Bogaerts struck out after getting ahead in the count, however, Rafael Devers hit a blooper to center for a one-run lead. Trevor Story followed with a double to left after seeing eight pitches, capping Boston’s scoring. From then on, Patiño allowed just a single and an intentional walk which set off six consecutive scoreless innings from the Rays pitching staff.
Meanwhile, down by a run in the first, Tampa Bay answered Boston’s solo shot against former Ray, Michael Wacha. Manuel Margot sparked the rally with a soft single to center. Then with one out, David Peralta blooped a base hit to center, moving Margot up to third. Harold Ramírez singled to right-center, tying the game at one.
Then in the fifth inning, Tampa Bay got within a run of Boston. José Siri collected an infield single to the left of second to start the rally. Randy Arozarena was next, doubling off the wall in left-field with Siri scoring from first to put the Rays down by a single tally. Unfortunately for Boston, Franchy Cordero left after suffering a sprained right ankle on the play. Wacha bounced back to get Peralta to fly out to left, while Ramírez bounced out to third, ending the threat.
Tampa Bay completed the comeback two innings later with Jeurys Familia on the mound. Familia hit pinch-hitter Vidal Bruján with a pitch. Bruján swiped second and moved up to third on a grounder off the bat of Siri. Margot doubled to right-center, tying the game at three and spelling the end of Familia’s outing. Zack Kelly took the mound and got Arozarena to ground out to short with Margot moving to third. With the game tied at three, Peralta hooked an 82 mph slider between Triston Casas and the bag at first for a lead they would not relinquish.
Calvin Faucher threw a scoreless top half of the inning even though he allowed a hit and two walks to load the bases. Colin Poche fell behind the first batter in the eighth 3-2 before he locked it in and struck out the side. Finally, Pete Fairbanks pitched the ninth. He allowed a leadoff single — the first hit against him since August 16th — then retired the next three batters. Fairbanks struck out Xander Bogaerts on a 99 mph heater at the bottom of the zone to earn the save and preserve the win.
The New What Next
JT Chargois (2-0, 1.29 ERA) will open Tuesday, while Rays’ hurlers will pitch opposite left-hander Rich Hill (6-5, 4.52 ERA).
Drew Rasmussen (9-4, 2.70 ERA) was slated to get the ball for Tampa Bay, however, he was placed on the paternity list since his wife, Stevie, is about to give birth to the couple’s first child. Yonny Chirinos, sidelined since August 2020 due to Tommy John surgery, has been activated from the 60-Day Injured List and will rejoin the roster. Chirinos has pitched three-inning stints recently for Triple-A Durham, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the hurler to throw four, maybe five, innings pending efficiency.
JT Chargois will open the contest. Chargois allowed one run on one hit across 0.1 innings against New York on Sunday. It was the first run allowed off the right-hander in seven innings of work since returning from the IL.
Rich Hill allowed four runs on five hits and four walks while striking out two batters against the Rangers. Hill pitched his best game of the season in his previous outing, striking out 11 batters over seven scoreless frames against Tampa Bay. He couldn’t carry that momentum over, however, as he tied a season-high with four walks and was lifted after allowing the first three batters he faced in the fifth inning to reach base. Hill hasn’t had many big blowups this season, although he’s allowed at least four runs in six of his 20 outings, leading to a mediocre 4.52 ERA for the season, with a 4.05 FIP, a 1.29 WHIP, and a 2.62 K/BB across 93.2 innings. Hill has been good against his former team, going 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two starts (11.0 total innings) while scattering seven hits and four walks. Key Matchups: Randy Arozarena (2-5), Yu Chang (1-2, BB), Ji-Man Choi (2-3), Isaac Paredes (1-3), David Peralta (5-17, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, BB), Taylor Walls (1-3, BB)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.
Rays 9/6/22 Starting Lineup
- Díaz 3B
- Margot RF
- Arozarena LF
- Ramírez DH
- Paredes 2B
- Mejía C
- Bethancourt 1B
- Chang SS
- Siri CF
Noteworthiness
— Per Tricia Whitaker, Wander Franco was pinch-hit for the fifth inning in a rehab game with Triple-A Durham. He felt something in his second at-bat. Kevin Cash says it isn’t anything terribly serious, and no x-rays or “anything like that” is necessary.