The Tampa Bay Rays jumped out to an 8-0 lead on Wednesday, which gave Blake Snell all the run support he would need during a fantastic five-inning outing. And while the Red Sox made things interesting in the eighth inning, the Rays held on to win their third consecutive in Boston, and fifth overall.
Blake Snell got the start for Tampa Bay, tasked with throwing at least five innings if only to save the beleaguered bullpen. In turn, the left-hander posted in his longest, and most effective, outing of the season. Snell tossed five shutout innings, scattering four hits and walking none while striking out six on 70 pitches (48 strikes, 69% strike rate). He threw 13 of 18 first-pitch strikes, coaxed 14 swings and misses (29% whiff rate), and did not allow a runner beyond second base.
Looking forward to being a starting pitcher again and getting away from the opener role. I felt like Blake Snell. I finally feel healthy.
— Blake Snell
The Rays rewarded Snell by scoring all the runs he would need in the first three innings of the contest, although they were also able to add three more runs in the fourth and ninth innings.
For the second consecutive night, Tampa Bay scored in the opening frame. Brandon Lowe singled to right-center with one out against right-hander Kenny Powers Zack Godley and went to third when Diaz hit a single off the glove of Michael Chavis at first. Ji-Man Choi walked, loading the bases, and before Joey Wendle hit a sharp grounder to first. The ball got stuck in Chavis’ mitt, and his only play was at first allowing Lowe scored for an early lead.
Willy Adames opened the second against Godley with his first homer of the season, a blast to right-center just to the right of the triangle. After Kevin Pillar lost a towering fly ball in the lights — off the bat of Austin Meadows — for a single, Lowe drilled his team-leading fourth homer to right, doubling the lead to four.
Then in the top of the next inning, Ji-Man Choi doubled down the right-field line before Yoshi Tsutsugo drilled a two-run homer to right for a commanding six-run lead. It was Yoshi’s second homer of the season and his first at Fenway.
The Rays chased Powers Godley in the fourth, and it all started with Meadows who earned a walk. Lowe doubled off the Monstah, allowing Meadows to move into third. He crossed the plate on Díaz’s RBI base hit. Ryan Weber took the mound in relief and got Choi to ground into a twin killing, although Lowe came home on the play for the eighth run for Tampa Bay.
Meanwhile, Aaron Slegers took over for Snell in the sixth and tossed a pair of scoreless innings … although things changed quickly for him in the eighth after he allowed six consecutive hits. The luck dragons were with Jackie Bradley Jr., who hit a dribbler just wide of the mound for an infield hit, and José Peraza hit a single to left. Pillar followed with his fourth hit of the night, a base loading single to right. After Jonathan Araúz singled to left, putting the Red Sox on the board, J.D. Martinez launched a grand slam over the Monstah to cut the deficit to just three runs.
Rays skipper Kevin Cash had seen enough after Tsu-Wei Lin reached on an infield hit, and called upon the services of Nick Anderson. The right-hander struck out the next two batters before Alex Verdugo grounded single to right. Anderson, however, got Bradley Jr. to ground out to short to end the threat.
Meadows capped the scoring with a leadoff homer in the ninth, his first long ball of the season. Finally, Pete Fairbanks tossed a perfect inning to finish off the win.
The New What Next
The Rays will go for a four-game sweep on Thursday with Tyler Glasnow (0-2, 3.78 ERA) on the mound. He’ll start opposite of left-hander Kyle Hart, who will make his big league debut.
Tyler Glasnow allowed four runs on five hits in just 2-2/3 innings of work on Saturday, striking out five while walking three. Glasnow matched Gerrit Cole with a pair of scoreless frames to start the game, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, but he allowed a two-run homer to Mike Ford and a two-run double to Gio Urshela in the third, forcing him from the game. Glasnow now owns a 5.56 ERA through his first three starts, with a 2.38:1 K:BB and a 30.0% HR/FB rate. Glasnow is 1-1 with a 3.32 ERA in four starts against the Red Sox, and 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA at Fenway.
Kyle Hart is a tall southpaw that is tough on left-handed hitters. He works his five-pitch mix — an 89 mph four-seam fastball, an 86 mph cutter, a low-80’s slider, an 82 mph changeup, and a 78 mph curveball — well, and boasts solid command and control. All of his secondary pitches play off of his four-seamer.
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.
Rays 8/13/20 Starting Lineup
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- Brosseau 3B
- Martinez 1B
- Diaz DH
- Renfroe RF
- Lowe 2B
- Adames SS
- Margot CF
- Tsutsugo LF
- Zunino C
Noteworthiness
— After being diagnosed with a UCL sprain, which I wrote about yesterday, it would appear that right-hander Andrew Kittredge is headed for the operating table. A UCL sprain, by definition, is a stretching or tearing of ligaments. Since having Tommy John surgery this late in the year could force Kittredge to miss all of the 2021 season, he could first opt to try a program of rest and rehab.
— After throwing two plus innings last night, right-hander Aaron Slegers was optioned to the Rays alternate site in Port Charlotte. To take his place on the roster, and give the team a fresh arm, the Rays selected southpaw Anthony Banda.
— Good (injury) news for a change…Per Neil Solondz (Rays Radio), Brent Honeywell, who underwent a decompression procedure on his right ulnar nerve on May 20 in his comeback from Tommy John surgery, threw 15 pitches in a live BP session on Tuesday. It was the first time Honeywell had thrown to hitters since April 2019.