Final: Red Sox 13, Rays 6 (15 innings)

Unable to collect the big they needed for much of the night, the Red Sox finally figured things out in a big way in the 15th inning.

The Sox broke out for seven runs in the top of the 15th to post an unforgettable 13-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Boston sent 12 men to the plate and scored seven times to improve to 13-3 in extra innings this season. The win kept the Sox three games in front of the Yankees in the East.

The Sox had stranded 14 runners in the first 14 innings. Even when they scored a run in the top of the 14th, the Rays answered in their half.

Rafael Devers had singled home Mookie Betts from second base to put the Red Sox ahead in the top of the inning, but the Rays tied it in the bottom of the inning when Kevin Kiermaier, who had made two spectacular catches in center earlier in the game, homered off Brandon Workman.

The Sox previously seemed poised to win the game in the 11th when they had runners at the corners with no out. But Deven Marrero was cut down between third and home trying to score on a ground ball, Dustin Pedroia’s liner was grabbed by a leaping Adeiny Hechavarria at short and Andrew Benintendi flied to left, leaving the bases loaded.

The Rays had taken a seemingly comfortable 5-2 lead heading into the ninth with A.L. saves leader Alex Colome on to close it out. But the Sox pieced together an impressive rally, with some help of the Rays, who contributed an error, a wild pitch and a walk to mix with run-scoring hits from Sandy Leon and Xander Bogaerts to tie the game at 5-5.

Starter Chris Sale struggled in 5.2 innings of work.

Twice in the first four innings, Sale was given leads by his offense, only to squander them.

After the Sox used a single from Benintendi in the top of the first to grab a 1-0 lead, Sale gave the lead up within three batters. In the top of the fourth, Mitch Moreland gave the Sox a 2-1 lead with a solo homer, by Sale yielded a two-run homer to Wilson Ramos as the Rays surged ahead 3-2.

A solo homer by Hechavarria in the sixth, following two batters later by a triple from Peter Bourjos meant the end of the night for Sale.

• Red Sox fans are treated to great plays by Jackie Bradley Jr. on a regular basis, but tonight was a stark reminder that he's not the only elite center fielder in the A.L. East. Kevin Kiermaier may be every bit Bradley's equal. He made two astounding plays in consecutive innings as if to make that point. In the ninth, as the Red Sox were rallying, he made a spectacular catch on a ball hit by -- irony alert -- Bradley in the left-center alley, racing to the warning track and fully extending himself to make a diving catch. An inning later, he took extra bases away from Mookie Betts in the top of the 10th.


• Not a great for Chris Sale, obviously. He was pulled in the sixth inning after giving up his second homer of the night, a solo shot to shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. At times, Sale looked overpowering, bunching together five straight strikeouts at one point. But at other times, he had difficulty locating, issuing three walks, which tied his high for this season. A couple of poorly located pitches resulted in two homers and three runs. An outing like this will inevitably start the chatter about Sale being tired in September, but I don't think that applied tonight. He had good life to his fastball, and after the first inning, commanded his breaking pitches better. But...two missed spots brought three runs.


• Early in the game,  Sale had highly atypical control issues. At one point, of the 21 pitches he had thrown, 11 were balls. That's rare and it resulted in him issuing back-to-back walks in the first before falling behind 3-and-1 to Peter Bourjos, the first hitter he faced in the second. But then Sale seemed to get locked in with his delivery and, after getting Pourjos on an infield pop-up, proceeded to post five straight strikeouts - the first three swinging and the last two called.


• More than most players, Mitch Moreland tends to hit his homers in bunches. Earlier this year, he had three in seven games and then later, three in three games. The solo shot he hit tonight in the fourth was his first this month and first in 45 at-bats. Perhaps that bodes well for the rest of this trip, given his tendency to have them come in bunches.