All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 10-3 loss to the Rays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight.
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Velazquez shelled: Like his fellow spot starter Brian Johnson, Hector Velazquez has generally kept his team in the game and given them a chance to win more times than not. But that wasn't the case Friday night. After a 1-2-3 first inning, Velazquez gave up three runs in the second, during which he walked two hitters and saw both of them come around to score. The worst pitch came when he was ahead 0-and-2 to Miguel Perez, only to throw a fastball over the heart of the plate which Perez smashed for a two-run double. It only got worse from there - in the third, seven of the first eight hitters to face him reached base, resulting in five runs for the Rays, effectively putting the game out of reach. How uncharacteristic was this outing for Velazquez? In his first five starts this season, he had allowed seven runs combined; on Friday, he allowed eight before he could get out of the third inning. "A lot of pitches over the heart of the plate,'' lamented Alex Cora of Velazquez. "In that inning, they were all over his off-speed pitches.''
Bogaerts continues to beat up the Rays: The Red Sox shortstop has feasted off Tampa Bay pitching all season. He entered Friday having slashed .396/.450/.774 against them in 15 games against them, to go along with 12 doubles and 14 RBI. Bogaerts continued his hot hitting against them with a single in the second, a two-run single in the third and another single in the eighth. If that wasn't enough, Bogaerts robbed Rays outfielder of a base hit in the seventh when he went deep into the shortstop hole, planted and fired a long strike to first to just nab Kiermaier by a half-step. Bogaerts continues to pile up the RBIs -- he's up to 84 for the season. The only unfortunate thing for him? There are just two games remaining this season against Tampa Bay.
Pomeranz a bright spot in relief: Drew Pomeranz has struggled all season -- first as a starter, and more recently, out of the bullpen, where he's become a glorified mop-up man, used only when the Red Sox are way ahead or way behind. Even that role has seen him disappoint, as he was hit hard on the last road trip in Philadelphia. But Friday night, he came in and got the final out of the third inning in relief of Velazquez, then threw another four innings, allowing just one hit. That one hit, unfortunately for the Sox, was a two-run homer by Willy Adames in the fourth. But other than that, Pomeranz was sharp. He walked two, but after the homer, he retired 10 of the last 11 hitters he faced and got some swings-and-misses on his curveball. It's not as if there's time for Pomeranz to salvage his season and re-enter the rotation, but if he can at least provide some quality length out of the pen in the final five weeks, he can be of some help.
SECOND GUESS
Given how the night was going, maybe it wouldn't have made much difference, but Cora seemed to get caught flat-footed during Tampa Bay's six-run third inning. The Rays were making hard contact against Velazquez -- albeit, mostly on the ground -- and it got to the point where they pounded out six straight hits against him. But oddly, it wasn't until the Rays had crossed the plate four times that Cora got anybody up in the bullpen, going to Pomeranz to get the final out of the inning and finally stop the bleeding.
TWO UP
Ian Kinsler: Kinsler is still working to get his timing back after missing time on the DL with a hamstring pull. He had some solid at-bats and rapped out singles in each of his final two at-bats.
J.D. Martinez: Martinez had a three-hit night and also drove in the third Red Sox run when he poked a single through the infield in the fifth.
ONE DOWN
Mookie Betts: Betts, who was slumped a bit of late, was hitless in three at-bats, though he did have two walks. He took a called third strike in the first and after hitting the ball hard to the warning track in the fifth grounded out weakly on a force play with the bases loaded in the eighth.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"If you're looking for something positive, the bullpen is rested for tomorrow.'' Alex Cora
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The loss was just the fifth in the last 21 road games for the Red Sox.
- Xander Bogaerts has 10 RBI in his last five games.
- Boston dropped to 45-17 against teams from the East.
- The defeat was only the 14th for the Red Sox this season in series openers.