Jarren Duran snapped a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth with a run-scoring single, sending the Red Sox to a 3-2 victory of the Tampa Bay Rays, snapping the club's three-game losing streak.
The Sox took a quick 1-0 lead in the second, then didn't lead again until Duran scored Rafael Devers from second base,
Chris Sale gave the Sox six innings, allowing only a two-run homer to Wander Franco in the third.
Garrett Whitlock and Adam Ottavino combined to toss three scoreless innings of relief.
WHO: Red Sox (75-59) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (84-48)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Troipicana Field
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: TB 9-5
SERIES TO DATE: TB 2-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (3-0, 2.35) vs. RHP Drew Rasmussen (1-1, 3.46)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93,7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Schwarber 1B
Renfroe RF
Devers 3B
Martinez DH
Verdugo LF
Vazquez C
Duran CF
Lopez 2B
Arauz SS
RAYS
Arozarena RF
Cruz DH
Franco SS
Diaz 1B
Margot CF
Zunino C
Luplow LF
Wendle 3B
Walls 2B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T9: Jarren Duran slaps a single to right, scoring Rafael Devers from second, giving the Red Sox their first lead since the third inning.
B7: Sox work around a leadoff double when they cut down Joey Wendle at home on a grounder to third, with a nice dig by Vazquez.
T7: Vazquez gets a hanging slider from Collin McHugh and drives it out to left. First homer for Vazquez since Aug. 17 and the Sox have tied it up.
B5: The first 1-2-3 inning of the night for Sale, who seems to have settled into a better rhythm as the game goes along.
T5: Strange send on the part of third base coach Carlos Febles, who waves in Vazquez from second on a sharp single to right by Schwarber only to have Vazquez out by 15 feet at the plate.
B4: Sale keeps getting bailed out by inning-ending double plays. He's had three turned behind him tonight.
B4: For the second time tonight, Kyle Schwarber has a ball go off his glove -- this time, into right field, for a single.
B4: This is the most Sale has struggled in his four starts since returning from surgery. His command is off and he's laboring.
B3: Wander Franco, Tampa Bay wunderkind, goes the other way for a two-run homer. Sale has given up four homers in four games and every run he's allowed since returning has come via the homer.
B3: Strange that it took 10 hitters for Chris Sale to register his first strikeout for the night.
T2: Margot again with difficulty, mishandling a line drive from Christian Vazquez, as Verdugo scores and Vazquez takes second on the error.
T2: Manuel Margot takes a chance on diving for a sinking liner by Alex Verdugo and misses, with the ball getting by him for a triple.
B1: The new Red Sox double-play combination of Jonathan Arauz and Jack Lopez turns a nice 4-6-3 double play to get out of a first-and-third jam.
WHAT's UP:....The Red Sox have lost each of their last 3 games...They are 3-3 in their last 6 games, 5-4 in their last 9, and 10-9 in their last 19. The Sox are 20-23 since the All-Star break...They are 12- 19 since 7/29, after starting the season 63-40 (.612)....The Red Sox have won 4 of their last 5 series...They have won each of their last 3 series, matching their longest streak of the season (4th time)...The Red Sox are 5-9 against the Rays this season, including 1-7 at Tropicana Field...The Sox have lost their last 7 games at Tropicana Field, their longest losing streak at the venue since a 7-game skid from 9/23/07-7/2/08. ....The Red Sox are in a stretch of playing a game on 17 consecutive days from 8/23-9/8 (5-4 so far). Each of the Sox’ next 14 games are against teams that entered today with a winning record (TB-2, CLE-3, TB3, CWS-3, SEA-3)...The Sox’ 5 games prior to tonight were also against teams that entered today with a winning record (CLE-3, TB-2). The Red Sox have homered in each of their last 9 games (20 HR total), their longest streak of the season...The Sox last homered in at least 10 consecutive games during August of 2019 (19 games, 8/7-30). The Sox’ 177 HR this season have averaged a projected distance of 405 feet, the 3rd-longest average in the majors (COL-411, MIN-407). The Sox lead MLB with 33 HR with at least 2 runners on base (30 three-run, 3 grand slams). The Sox lead MLB with 16 HR in 0-2 counts. ...Among AL players with at least 50 PA in August, Bobby Dalbec ranked 1st in OPS (1.205), 2nd in OBP (.431), 2nd in SLG (.774), and 2nd in AVG (.339)...He tied for the team lead in RBI (21), ranking 2nd in HR (7) and XBH (12). In 132 career games, Dalbec has 26 HR and 77 RBI with a .243/.307/.493/.799 batting line...In his 15 games with the Red Sox, Kyle Schwarber has posted a .340/.492/.600/1.092 batting line (17-for-50, 14 BB, 4 2B, 3 HR). Schwarber has reached base 32 times with Boston, the most by a player in their first 15 games with the Sox since Manny Ramirez in 2001 (also 32). ...Chris Sale is 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA (4 ER/15.1 IP) and 21 strikeouts to just 3 walks through his first 3 starts of the season. Sale, who has thrown at least 5.0 innings in all 3 starts, has struck out 8 batters twice, doing so over 5.0 innings on 8/14 vs. BAL and over 5.1 innings on 8/26 vs. MIN.... Among the 187 pitchers with at least 60.0 IP this season, Garrett Whitlock ranks 2nd in the AL and 4th in MLB with a 1.57 ERA. Since 1970, the only AL rookies (min. 60.0 IP) with a lower ERA in a season than Whitlock’s are Dellin Betances (1.40 in 2014) and Jonathan Papelbon (0.92 in 2006). Whitlock has made 22 scoreless appearances of more than 1.0 IP, the most in MLB....The Red Sox lead the majors in doubles (275) and XBH (469) and rank 4th in runs per game (5.04), 3rd in AVG (.259), 2nd in SLG (.444), and 3rd in OPS (.770). The Sox own MLB’s best record when scoring 4+ runs (.827, 67-14)...They have scored 10+ runs 17 times (most in AL) and 15+ runs 3 times (tied for most in AL). In their last 21 games (beginning 8/8), the Sox have scored 132 runs (6.3/game) with a batting line of .275/.357/.494...They scored 6+ runs in 10 of those 21 games, after doing so in none of their previous 15...: Rafael Devers ranks among the top 5 in the majors in HR (T-5th, 32), RBI (2nd, 97), doubles (T4th, 34), XBH (3rd, 67), and total bases (5th, 264). Devers leads the majors in XBH since the beginning of 2019 (185)...His 254 career XBH rank 3rd among Red Sox prior to turning 25 (Williams-314, Doerr-260). ....The Red Sox lead the majors in runs scored with 2 outs (281)...With RISP & 2 outs, the Sox lead the majors in AVG (.267) and OPS (.843). With 2 strikes, the Sox lead MLB in RBI (273) & XBH (165)...10 of their last 18 HR have been hit with 2 strikes. The Sox’ 15 HR from the No. 9 spot in the batting order are tied for most in the majors (also DET, HOU, & TB)...Their 41 XBH from that spot lead the majors.
NOTES:
* For the third straight day, the Red Sox had to place a player on the COVID-IL list. On Wednesday, it was INF/OF Yairo Munoz, joining seven other players there. Munoz and Xander Bogaerts were officially placed on the list. They were replaced by infielder Jack Lopez and pitcher John Schreiber.
* The Sox also added INF/OF Danny Santana and RHP Ryan Brasier to the roster, as they completed their rehab assignments. They effectively constitute the two extra players that are allowed to be added on Sept. 1 when rosters expand from 26 to 28.
* Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox chief baseball officer, met with reporters on a Zoom call and addressed, among other issues, the team's recent COVID outbreak. "I wish everybody in our organization was vaccinated -- for that matter, everybody who is eligible. Every person in this organization who isn't vaccinated pains me,'' Bloom said the Sox were mystified as to why they've been able to avoid outbreaks for most of the season, but have been hit hard lately. "I wish we knew,'' said Bloom. "I don't know if we'll ever know exactly why....We've had a lot of breakthrough infections. There's no real way to know if it would have been different if we had a higher vaccination rate or not.'
* Bloom predicted that a player's vaccination status could be a factor in how teams assemble rosters in the future. "I think that's going to be a conversation in the industry we step back and have,,'' he said, noting that last winter, vaccinations weren't available. "I think going forward it will be a topic.''
* Alex Cora said the team is adopting some of protocols from last year to deal with the outbreak, including smaller group meetings prior to the game, and holding meetings outside. Meanwhile, the team has had later report times to the ballpark to cut down on the amount of time spent together in the clubhouse.
* Cora added that while the team played a sloppy game Tuesday, with defensive mistake and fundamental misplays, it wasn't the result of the COVID situation. "I've been saying all along that we've been sloppy for a while and we've been paying the price.''
* Cora said Kike Hernandez and Christian Arroyo, currently quarantining in a Cleveland hotel, remain there and will for a while longer. He hoped that Hernandez might be cleared to rejoin the Sox sometime over the weekend at Fenway.
