Down to their last out, the Red Sox rallied for a dramatic walkoff win on a two-run double by J.D. Martinez, overtaking the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-5.
The Sox trailed 5-4 in the bottom of the 12th. But with the automatic runner on second in the person of Hunter Renfroe, Alex Verdugo was plunked with two outs and a wild pitch from Ryan Thompson advanced the runners to second and third.
On a 1-and-1 pitch, Martinez slammed a double over the head of right fielder Randy Arozarena, scoring both baserunners. It was Boston's second straight win after three consecutive losses to start the year.
The Sox had gotten a game-tying homer from Christian Vazquez in the bottom of the eighth, then traded runs with the Rays in the 11th. Tampa had gone ahead again in the top of the 12th on a wild pitch and an infield groundout before Martinez struck in the bottom of the inning.
Boston used seven pitchers, capped by Phillips Valdez, who earned the win.
WHO: Red Sox (1-3) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (2-2)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: Boston 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Martin Perez vs. RHP Tyler Glasnow
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM
LINEUPS
RAYS
Diaz 1B
Arozarena RF
Brosseau 2B
Margot CF
Lowe LF
Adames SS
Mejia DH
Padlo 3B
Zunino C
RED SOX
Arroyo 2B
Verdugo CF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Gonzalez 1B
Renfroe RF
Cordero LF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B11: Back and forth, we go. On the first pitch he sees, Rafael Devers singles to left, scoring Xander Bogaerts and it's tied again.
B10: A game-long trend continues as the Red Sox can't deliver in a big spot. They're now 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
T10: Dominant outing from Matt Barnes, who tosses two scoreless frames and fans four of the six hitters he faced.
B9th: Game-tying homer from Christian Vazquez -- on an 0-2 pitch, no less, from closer Diego Castillo.
B8: Yet one more at-bat from J.D. Martinez that we wouldn't have seen last year, as he muscles an opposite field double over the head of Arozarena, scoring Alex Verdugo and bringing the Sox to within a run.
T7: Tremendous catch against The Wall by Franchy Cordero, who leaps to take extra-bases away from Margot, then fires to second to double up Randy Arozarena. Cordero showed a lot of athleticism and poise to make that play.
T6: Alex Verudgo, who was among the MLB leaders in outfield assists last season, records another one as he takes the carom of a Wall ball from Adames and fires back to the infield, where Adames is out trying to return to first.
B4: Last September, the Red Sox ran ragged on Tyler Glasnow at Tropicana Field, swiping six bases and taking advantage of his lanky frame and slow time to the plate. In the fourth here tonight, Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez each stole a base without drawing so much as a throw.
T3: Perez wiggles out of additional trouble by getting Willy Adames looking at an inside sinker for a called third strike, leaving the bases loaded.
T3: Three singles and a walk as the Rays move the line against Martin Perez, taking the lead on a two-run single to RF by Manuel Margot.
T2: In the first two innings, Marwin Gonzalez has handled himself well around the first base bag, making a lunging play to get a tag on a baserunner and leaping off the bag to handle a high throw from Xander Bogaerts.
B1: Red Sox manufacture a run on a Baltimore-chop double, groundout and wild pitch, with Christian Arroyo
T1: Hunter Renfroe, strangely, pulls up on a ball hit by Mike Brosseau to shallow right. Appeared to be tracking it for the final out, but ball dropped about 10 feet in front of him and bounced into stands for a ground-rule double.
PRE-GAME STATS: The last time the Red Sox went longer than the current streak of four games without allowing a homer was in 1992, when no homers were hit against them in the first six games...Other than the Nationals, who have been sidelined with COVID-19 and have yet to play, the Mets are the only other team to not allow a homer...J.D. Martinez is the first Red Sox hitter to collect at least one extra-base hit in each of the first four games since David Ortiz did it in 2005..Since joining the Sox for the 2018 season, Martinez leads the A.L. in RBI (268) and total bases (777). He's also second in hits (416) and third in homers (88)....Nick Pivetta became the second pitcher in the last two seasons to throw five or more innings and allowed one or no runs in each of his first three games with the Sox....Two Red Sox regulars -- Rafael Devers and Bobby Dalbec -- went into Tuesday night still looking for their first hit of the season (0-for-16 for both), though only Devers was in the starting lineup....Tanner Houck accomplished the same feat in September...Four other pitchers have done it for the franchise: Bullet Joe Bush (1918), Tim Wakefield (1995), Pedro Martinez (1998) and Eduardo Rodriguez (2015)...Against Martin Perez, Mike Zunino is 6-for-22 with three homers while Mike Brosseau is 4-for-10 with a homer....Meanwhile, Martinez is 3-for-9 with a homer lifetime against Glasnow and Christian Arroyo is 1-for-3 with a homer....The Red Sox have yet to launch a replay challenge this year.
NOTES:
- Eduardo Rodriguez will be activated Thursday and will pitch the first game of the Red Sox' road trip in Baltimore Thursday. Rodriguez was placed on the IL last week with a dead arm but has since thrown two bullpens -- one at the alternate site in Worcester and one at Fenway -- and has completely recovered. "We do believe he's ready to go and go deep into the game,'' said Alex Cora. Presumably, Tanner Houck will be returned to the alternate site to make room for Rodriguez's return. For Tuesday and Wednesday, Houck will be available out of the bullpen.
- The Sox sat Kiké Hernández for the first time this season and has Christian Arroyo at second, batting leadoff. "Christian swung the bat well in spring training,'' said Cora. "He had some good at-bats, in a small sample size, against Glasnow last year and hopefully he can run into one and give us a lead or extend a lead. He's a good defender.'' Hernandez struck out in his first three at-bats Monday night before hitting a booming double to center in his final plate appearance of the night.
- Cora praised the new alternate uniforms the Sox are going to wear on Patriots Day weekend, featuring yellow and royal blue, representative of the colors of the Boston Marathon. "It seems like in the NBA, they have a new uniform every day,'' he joked. "I'm all for it. I think this league has been lacking in pushing their players out there and marketing them. For them to use a different uniform, hopefully it's the beginning of something cool. I think this is a great idea and I'm looking forward to wearing them.''
- Red Sox players are not yet eligible for COVID vaccinations in the state of Massachusetts, but the team is advising players to get them when they become available. "There's a lot of ongoing conversations about (that),'' Cora. "Obviously, that's something the individual has to decide what he wants to do. We'll talk about it. We'll bring in people to explain the effects, or the after-effects, or no effects of the vaccine. But in the end, the individual will decide if he wants to do it. From my end, I'm all for it. Whenever I get a chance to to do it, I'll do it.'' Cora said he's made his support for the vaccine clear to the team. If an MLB team's uniformed personnel and traveling staff is 85 percent vaccinated, those teams will be given additional freedoms and will be excused from some of the current health and safety protocols currently in place.