Hanging on for dear life in the ninth, the Red Sox escaped Tropicana Field with a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, needing 38 from two relievers to get through the final inning and leaving the bases loaded.
For the second straight game, the Red Sox got strong starting pitching. Chris Sale labored through six innings, needing a season-high 116 pitches, and limited the Rays to just two runs on a homer by Travis d'Arnaud.
The Sox took a 2-0 lead in the first before d'Arnaud tied it up in the third. Christian Vazquez then came off the bench to snap the 2-2 tie with a pinch-hit homer to lead off the top of the seventh.
The Rays handed two big insurance runs in the eighth on a bobble by second baseman Mike Brosseau and a bases-loaded hit batsman from Oliver Kittredge.
WHO: Red Sox (55-46) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (57-46)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Tropicana Field
SERIES TO DATE: Boston 1-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 5-5
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (4-9, 4.05) vs. RHP Yonny Chirinos (8-5, 3.29)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:40 Rays bring the infield in, but Brosseau can't handle a hot smash from Benintendi cleanly and a run crosses the plate.
9:24 A little surprising that the Sox are turning to Matt Barnes here in the seventh with 8-9-1 due for the Rays. Would have thought that he would be saved for the eighth, when the middle of the Tampa order is due.
9:18 Christian Vazquez off the bench to deliver a pinch-hit homer -- the second of the season for Vazquez and fifth for the Red Sox this season.
8:52 A series of long at-bats likely mean that Sale is done after just five innings, with 102 pitches thrown. Rays were able to foul off a lot of pitches in the last three innings, extending at-bats and running up Sale's workload. He needed just 27 pitches in the first two innings, but 75 (!!!) over the last three.
8:36 Sale was fairly economical through the first two innings, but has thrown 50 pitches in the last two and is up to 77 pitches in four innings.
8:12 Didn't look like a bad pitch from Sale - a slider down-and-in, but Travis D'Arnaud pulls it down the line for a two-run homer. That's 18 homers allowed by Sale; last season: 11.
7:50 For the second straight start, Chris Sale looks like he has electric stuff -- establishing the fastball, and unafraid to put hitters away with the slider.
7:24 Andrew Benintendi delivers a run-scoring single to center, giving him four hits in the last six at-bats. Looks like he might be ready to go on a run.
7:18 Yonny Chirinos throws a wild pitch and Rafael Devers scores from first.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Benintendi LF
Holt 2B
Moreland 1B
Bradley CF
Leon C
RAYS
D'Arnaud 1B
Pham LF
Meadows DH
Garcia RF
Duffy 3B
Brosseau 2B
Heredia CF
Adames SS
Zunino C
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox 9-4 win Monday night gave the Red Sox four wins in as many games at Tropicana Field this season...The back-t0-back homers from Andrew Benintendi and Sam Travis in the third inning Monday marked the sixth time the Sox have had homers in consecutive at-bats this season....The seven-run third inning was the seventh time the Sox have scored seven or more runs in a single inning this year, the most in baseball....The Sox have homered in 20 of their last 22 games, for a total of 40 homers in that span...The Sox have three players with 20 or more homers -- J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts -- tying them as a team with the Twins and A's for most in the A.L....The Sox are 16-4 in their last 20 games and are 28-11 on the road since they last began a series at Tropicana Field in April....Mookie Betts has reached base safely in his last 19 straight games and in 35 of his last 36 games....During that 36-game stretch, Betts has an on-base percentage of .462...Rafael Devers leads the majors with 27 RBI in the month of July....Xander Bogaerts has 18 RBI in his last 14 games and has had multiple hits in 18 of his last 20...Jackie Bradley Jr. is 0-for-8....J.D. Martinez became one of six active players to hit 20 or more homers in each of the last six seasons. The others: Mike Trout, Anthony Rizzo, Edwin Encarnacion, Nelson Cruz and Jose Abreu....Sandy Leon comes into Tuesday night with a three-game hitting streak....Brock Holt has hit in four straight and leads baseball in batting average since May 27 at .387....Chris Sale has had 11 games in which he's struck out 10 or more, the second most such starts in MLB behind Gerrit Cole...Sale is third in strikeouts (172) and is third in strikeouts-per-nine innings at 13.16...Sale has a career ERA of 1.92 at Tropicana Field....Mike Zunino is 0-for-13 against Sale with seven strikeouts and Gil Heredia is 1-for-10...Avisail Garcia is 3-for-9....Against Yonny Chirinos, Bradley is 4-for-10 and Betts is 2-for-10
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- The Sox activated Mitch Moreland (calf), who's been out of the lineup for the last six weeks. To make room for his return, the Sox optioned Marco Hernandez to Pawtucket. Hernandez had hit well, but the Sox wanted more of a L-R balance and keeping Hernandez over Sam Travis would have given them too many lefty bats on the bench.