was drummed out of the game in the second inning, helping the Tampa Bay Rays snap their seven-game losing streak with a decisive 8-2 win over the Red Sox.
The win evened the series and brought the Rays to within a half game of the Red Sox in the A.L. East standings.
For the second straight outing, Richards had little command with -- or confidence in - his breaking stuff, and got lit up with his fastball, allowing five runs in just 1.2 innings.
The Sox allowed just six hits to the Rays, but also issued nine walks.
Boston managed a run in the first, then didn't score again until the eighth.
WHO: Red Sox (44-29) vs.Tampa Bay Rays (43-31)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Tropicana Field
SERIES TO DATE: BOS 1-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 4-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Garrett Richards (4-4, 4.36) vs. LHP Rich Hill (5-2, 3.64)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS:
RED SOX
Santana CF
Verdugo LF
Martinez RF
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Renfroe RF
Vazquez C
Hernandez 2B
Dalbec 1B
RAYS
Lowe 2b
Choi 1B
Franco SS
Meadows DH
Arozorena LF
Wendle 3B
Margot RF
Phillips CF
Zunino C
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T8: Christian Vazquez snaps an 0-for-14 with a line single to left, scoring Rafael Devers with the Red Sox for the first Red Sox run since the first inning.
B7: Another ineffective appearance from Matt Andriese, who hangs a change up to Brandon Lowe, who takes his deep to CF with two on as the Rays turned this one into a blowout.
B6: For a while, Josh Taylor's scoreless run was in jeopardy. He hadn't allowed a run in his previous 20 appearances, but put runners on the corners with two out before getting a flyout to left from Randy Arozarena to end the threat.
T6: For the second straight night, the Red Sox offense has taken the middle few innings off. They've had just three hits since the second inning, and one of those was a Tropicana Field special -- a pop-up that got lost against the backdrop of the roof and fell in for a gift single for J.D. Martinez.
B4: Strong inning from Yachsel Rios, who pitched ahead far more than he has in his first few outings with the Sox and retires the Rays in order.
B2: That's all for Richards, who had no feel for either of his breaking balls and couldn't get by with his fastball. Not sure how this gets straightened out for him, who is so obviously lost without having something to grip the ball.
B2: Brutal misplay by Kike Hernandez, who inexplicably bounces a throw from about 30 feet away, enabling Wander Franco to reach and to score from third..
B2: Mike Zunino, who had a great history with Richards (8-for-12 lifetime) continues, jumping on a flat slider and hammering it to left.
B2: Richards continues to struggle with control, issuing three walks to the first eight hitters he's faced.
B1: Garrett Richards runs a fastball in middle-middle to Austin Meadows, who drives it out deep to right for a two-run shot.
T1: Sox ran into an inning-ending out as Bogaerts is thrown out attempting to steal second.
T1: Red Sox grab a quick lead with a walk to Alex Verudgo, a wild pitch and a run-scoring, opposite-field single from Xander Bogaerts.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox took the opener in the series Tuesday night to improved to 4-0 this year against the Rays and expand their lead to 1.5 games in the division....The Sox improved to 4-2 in extra innings and a perfect 3-0 in extra innings games on the road...Overall, the Red Sox are 12-6 in their last 18 games and are 15 games over .500, tying a season high reached two previous times...The Sox are 18-8 within their division, after dropping the first three games of the year to Baltimore, are 18-5 in their last 23 games against teams from the East...In four games against the Rays this season, the Sox have a +21 run differential (35-14), batted .325 with an .875 OPS, posted a 2.20 ERA and .201 opponent AVG, allowed 1 HR, and committed just two errors. Since August 2017, the Sox are 6-2-2 in their last 10 series at Tropicana Field and 19-13 in their last 32 games at the Trop... : The Red Sox are 4-2 on their 10-day, eight-game road trip...Overall, the Sox are an MLB-best 24-12 (.667) on the road, having won eight of their last 10 games away from Boston....The Red Sox lead the majors with 25 come-from-behind wins this season...They also lead the AL in runs scored with 2 outs (158). The Sox lead MLB in two--strike RBI (150), 22 more than any other team (SF-128)...Rafael Devers (28) and Xander Bogaerts (23) rank first and tied for second in MLB in two--strike RBI. With RISP & two outs, the Sox lead the majors in AVG (.279), SLG (.500), OPS (.867), and HR (tied, 14). The Sox are 20-11 (.645) in games decided by one or two runs, MLB’s second-best record behind CLE (21-10)....Devers leads the majors in go-ahead or game-tying RBI this season (24) and since the beginning of 2019 (77). With RISP this season, Devers leads the Sox in AVG (.363) and OPS (1.163), ranking among the top 10 in the majors in each category....Red Sox relievers rank fourth in the AL in ERA (3.70)...They have an MLB-high six pitchers with 20+ appearances and a sub-3.50 ERA....Five Sox relievers combined to throw 5.0 scoreless innings in last night’s 11-inning win, including Josh Taylor, who posted his 20th straight scoreless appearance...Garrett Richards has allowed eight earned runs over his last 9.1 IP after posting a 3.07 ERA previous five starts....Prior to his last start, had thrown at least 5.0 innings in nine consecutive starts, his longest streak since 2015-16 with LAA (27 starts)...Richards is third in the AL this season in HR/9.0 IP (0.73)...Since the start of 2014, leads the AL in HR/9.0 IP at 0.69.....He has 3.38 ERA over nine road starts this season....Opponents are hitting .333 with five homers in the first two innings this season, but just .260 with one homer after the second inning...Mike Zunino is 7-for-11 against Richards lifetime....In his last eight games, Devers is hitting .375 with seven extra-base hits...Alex Verdugo has hit in seven straight at a .323 clip with seven runs scored....J.D. Martinez has hit in 11 straight games, the longest active streak for any A.L. hitter....Hunter Renfroe is 7-for-21 with two career homers off Rich Hill.
NEWS:
* INF Christian Arroyo (shin contusion) remains out of the lineup and is "still sore'' so the Sox intend to stay away from him for another day, though he is improving. "We still believe it's not an IL situation,'' said Alex Cora. "Hopefully, he's ready to play (Thursday), if not, by Friday. We'll be patient with him. We still feel like we're in a good spot with the other guys.''
* Cora said he's confident Garrett Richards can rebound after a poor start last time out, after which he sounded almost morose about competing with the new foreign substance enforcement in place. Richards bemoaned the fact that he couldn't adequately grip the ball and said he was forced to throw fastballs three-quarters of the time. "We had a lot of conversations throughout,'' said Cora. "We're very pleased with the work he put in between starts. He feels comfortable where he's at, that whatever adjustments he has to make, he has to make. That's where we're at and it's here to stay. He's actually working on other pitches, too. It's just part of what guys are doing. He's working on a changeup and he still has the two-seamer, something that we haven't used in the season. I think him going east-west and then able to use the slider is going to be good. I think he should be OK.''
* Phillies manager Joe Girardi asked for Washington pitcher Max Scherzer to be checked with foreign substances numerous times Tuesday night, but Cora said he couldn't envision himself doing that. "I talked to the players already,'' Cora said, "and obviously I'm coming from a different situation than 28 other managers. It's kind of like, yeah, I know I have a job to do as manager of the Red Sox. But what we did in '17 (with sign-stealing with the Astros) was a lot bigger than what's going on for me to check on a pitcher. On a personal note, it's like, 'What are you doing? You messed up a few years ago and now you're trying to point a finger at a guy who has a substance?' Obviously, at one point, if we have to do it because it's just out of control, we'll address it. But as of now, I don't see it.''