All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 9-5 loss to the Rays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Freaky defensive plays cost Sox: It was evident early on that this wasn't going to be the Red Sox night. In the first inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Joey Wendle hit a ball to Michael Chavis at first. Chavis had a play at the plate on Brandon Lowe, but the ball was stuck in the web of his glove and Chavis couldn't dislodge it and had to settle for the out at first as Lowe crossed the plate. Then, in the second inning, Austin Meadows hit a routine fly ball to right. Right fielder Kevin Pillar, however, lost the ball in the twilight, breaking back to the warning track instead of coming in. What should have been the third out instead allowed Meadows to reach, and wouldn't you know it, Lowe then followed with a two-run homer to right. So, three of the four Tampa Bay runs scored on fluke plays and what should have been a relatively close game soon became a blowout.
Weber sharp in return: Ryan Weber, with three straight poor starts, was optioned to the alternate training site Saturday, but was brought back Wednesday when the Sox had a vacant roster spot. Weber took over for starter Zach Godley and tossed six innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits while fanning four and walking no one. Weber threw a couple of side sessions while in Pawtucket and focused on his cutter, which he threw more often and with more success. But Ron Roenicke attributed the improvement more to mental issues. "He looked so good in relief, maybe it's better to have in long relief like that,'' Roenicke said. "That's the guy that we saw in spring training, that was commanding all of his pitches and had tremendous movement on his pitches. He certainly should gain some confidence.
Benintendi likely out for a while: When the Red Sox announced that Andrew Benintendi was going on the 10-day IL mid-afternoon with a right rib cage strain, Roenicke was hopeful that the 10 days would be enough and he would be back with the club relatively soon. But with additional testing done later in the day, Roenicke wasn't nearly as optimistic after the game. "He did strain it, so he's going to be a while,'' said Roenicke. "It will probably be longer than the 10 days we talked about.'' For the time being, the Sox would seem to be covered well enough in the outfield, with a number of infielders (Tzu-Wei Lin, Jose Peraza) capable of helping out, too. But with Benintendi collecting two hits Tuesday night, there was the feeling that he might have been ready to bust out of a slump that had dogged him through the first two and a half weeks of the season. Now, any progress he made with his swing and approach will be put on hold.
TURNING POINT
The Red Sox were shutout over the first seven innings of the game before snapping to life in the eighth. They strung together six straight hits, capped by Martinez's grand slam before they made an out in the eighth and had the potential tying run on the on-deck circle. But Nick Anderson entered from the Tampa bullpen, quickly struck out Christian Vazquez and Chavis, and after a single to Alex Verdugo, got out of the jam by retiring Jackie Bradley Jr. on a groundout.
ONE UP
J.D. Martinez: For the second time in the last three games, Martinez went deep -- and he did so with the bases loaded, hitting his seventh career grand slam in the eighth inning to pull the Sox to within three.
TWO DOWN
Zach Godley: Godley was coming off an impressive start Saturday, but couldn't carry that over Wednesday. He gave up eight runs on 10 hits in just three-plus innings and yielded three long homers in the process.
Michael Chavis: Chavis had a single and stolen base, but really struggled at first base. In addition to having the ball caught in the web of his glove, he also ranged too far to his left and deflected a ball into the outfield, a ball that Jose Peraza could have handled.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"When things aren't going well, you see some weird stuff happening.'' Ron Roenicke.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The Red Sox have now lost seven of their last eight series at Fenway.
- The five-run eighth inning was their second biggest inning of the season.
- Jonathan Arauz is now 3-for-4 with RISP.
- Zach Godley tied a career high with three homers allowed.