The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the sinking Boston Red Sox 3-0 Saturday night at The Trop, behind an excellent effort from the bullpen. Grant Balfour, who pitched 1-2/3 shutout innings in relief, received credit for the win, while Red Sox starter John Lackey getting tagged with the loss. Simply put, the Rays are finding ways to win, and the Red Sox are finding ways to lose. Tampa Bay starts the day 3-1/2 out of the Wildcard, and 6-1/2 out of first in the East. They’re now winners of nine in a row — the longest winning streak of the Joe Maddon era.
Things started with two outs in the first, when David Ortiz hit a ground rule double off Jeremy Hellickson. A rather swarthy Red Sox fan reached over the railing in right field, catching Ortiz’s liner in the field of play before it could careen off the railing. If anything, the ball appeared as if it may skim over the top of the fence and leave the yard for a home run. The play was reviewed and the call on the field stood: No home run. Helly struck out Mike Napoli to end the inning with no damage.
The Rays’ offense got off to a quick start in the bottom half of the first, thanks in part to Boston’s defense. With an 0-1 count, Desmond Jennings laid down a bunt that was fielded by Christian Vazquez. Mike Napoli was unable to come up with Vazquez’s throw to first, and the ball ended up in the right field corner. In kind, Jennings — running hard — ended up at third base. Despite John Farrell’s complaints of Jennings interfering with the throw, he remained on third. After Ben Zobrist worked a walk to put men on the corners, Matt Joyce laced an RBI single into right field, giving the Rays an early lead. Though he appeared visibly frustrated — an affect that plagued Lackey all night — Boston’s mouth breathing righty managed to recover and retire the next three batters to limit the damage.
Hilarity ensued, when Brock Holt committed a base running gaffe in the top of the third that helped the Rays end the inning. Holt, who initially reached base on a walk (and moved up to second on a groundout) attempted to score on a weak grounder by Ortiz. James Loney, who was warned that Holt may try to score on a grounder prior to the play, caught Zobrist’s throw from right field. He turned and fired off a throw to Jose Molina, who easily applied the tag in front of the plate to end the inning.
The Rays were able to extend the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Yunel Escobar led things off with a single to left, and moved to second base on a well placed sac-bunt from Molina. With Kevin Kiermaier at the plate, Vazquez rifled off a throw to second in a pickoff attempt of Escobar. Stephen Drew clearly applied the tag to Escobar who was called safe on the field, though the replays showed that he was more than likely out. Farrell initially came out of the dugout but the Red Sox, for whatever reason, elected not to challenge the call. That decision proved costly. Kiermaier plated a run on a single to center, giving the Rays a 2-0 lead.
Though he was able to wiggle out of jams all night — staving off Red Sox threats and runs — Hellickson’s night came to an end with 96 pitches under his belt, in the top of fifth inning, after a two out single by Dustin Pedroia. With the lumbering giant coming to the plate, Maddon called on the lefty Jeff Beliveau to face Ortiz. Papi hit a laser, though right to Loney at first to end the inning.
Boston mounted another threat in the top of the sixth, after Napoli hit a leadoff single and moved to third on a pinch hit single from Jonny Gomes. Neither Escobar or Evan Longoria attempted to collect Gomes’ hit, even though it appeared both could have made a play. The ball rolled out of the infield, allowing Napoli to sprint to third. But Beliveau came back with a strikeout of Stephen Drew for the first out of the inning. Grant Balfour came on in relief and got the Rays out of the jam on a strikeout of Xander Bogaerts, and groundout from Jackie Bradley Jr.
Zobrist tacked on an insurance in the form of a seventh inning solo shot off of Lackey, giving Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead. Though Joyce and Longoria both followed with walks, they were stranded when Loney grounded out to end the Rays’ threat.
Brad Boxberger pitched the eighth inning, and though he allowed a walk to Napoli, he was able to put down the side without allowing a run. The ninth was Jake McGee’s. The Rays relief ace pitched a perfect frame — striking out Bogaerts and Bradley, and getting Vazquez to fly out to end the game; his eleventh save in twelve opportunities.
The New What Next
The Rays will go for their third consecutive sweep (and tenth consecutive win) Sunday afternoon when Chris Archer pitches opposite of Alan Webster who was called up to replace the recently traded Jake Peavy. Webster is described by scouts as being a,
Ground ball pitcher with a lean, projectable frame. Delivery is smooth, but he can short-arm the ball on occasion, losing his release point. Excellent athlete. Fastball sits 92-95 mph and tops out at 98 mph. Shows plus plus sinking movement, with late life. Fringe-average command. Needs improvement spotting up with offering and consistently staying down in the zone. 82-84 mph changeup grades as plus, misses a lot of bats. Shows depth and bottom-dropping action. Generates consistent arm speed when throwing pitch. Also features a solid-average-to-plus 83-87 mph slider, with tight rotation and late bite. Can throw for a strike and bury out of the strike zone. Creates strong wrist rotation. Late break makes it deceptive from the fastball. Both secondary offerings show the ability to miss bats. Mixes in a loopy 73-77 mph curveball at times. Pitch is more of a show me offering designed to steal a strike when the hitter is looking for something else. Aggressive on the mound. Projects as a middle-to-back-end starter at the major-league level.
I’ll post the starting lineup when it becomes available.
Rays 7/27/14 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Zobrist LF
Joyce DH
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Escobar SS
Figueroa 2B
Casali C
Kiermaier RF
Archer RHP
Noteworthines
- Rays’ pitchers threw 173 pitches in a combined shutout — they hadn’t thrown more pitches in a shutout prior to last night.
- A Rays win today would make Tampa Bay the sixth team in the last 25 years to have a 10-game winning streak and 10-game losing streak in the same season. The other teams: 2008 Indians, 2004 Devil Rays, 1999 Orioles, 1998 Reds, 1991 Mets.