BSJ Game Report: Rays 3, Red Sox 2 - Boston literally throws away a Chris Sale victory

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Rays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

After taking a 2-0 lead through five innings and Chris Sale done after 78 pitches and a successful return heading for the win, the Red Sox had to be feeling good about where they were and where they were going after Monday's bullpen-led stumble in Tampa.

How quickly things can change.

In the span of one inning, the Red Sox ... made two throwing errors on the same play to plate two runs and give the Rays a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth, and were one pitch away from having second and third with no one out in the top of the seventh but instead saw a runner picked off third and got no runs out of it to send the Red Sox to their second-straight loss.

The Red Sox, who can only salvage a split in winning the final two games of this set, are now winless in 10 division series this season.

"Like we've been saying, those innings, we've got to shut it down," Alex Cora told reporters. "Chris did a good job and we didn't finish that inning."

The fateful inning started when Ryan Brasier took over for Sale, and he allowed an 0-2 single and five-pitch walk with two outs. After Brasier fanned Randy Arozarena, Cora went to the lefty, Matt Strahm, against Ji-Man Choi. But Kevin Cash countered with Francisco Mejia, who singled up the middle to make it a 2-1 game. 

Taylor Walls then sent a line drive up the middle, which hit Strahm on the wrist and the ball went bounding away. Strahm picked up the ball, as the Rays were about to load the bases, and threw to wildly to first without looking first to score Isaac Paredes. Franchy Cordero compounded the error by not running the ball in and instead throwing lazily to home, and the ball took a bad bounce on Christian Vazquez and allowed Meija to score the go-ahead run.

"I mean, Strahmie's just desperate, right? Cora said. "Like he just looked for the ball and threw it and the other one you know Frenchy throwing to the plate, I think it took a bad hop on Christian or whatever. He tried to block it, but it is what it is, you know, we walk a guy there to before that and they got a base it up the middle."

To add a lot more insult to injury, Alex Verdugo was picked off of third, with Jeter Downs in first base, with no outs the following inning as Cordero appeared to attempt to lay down his second safety squeeze of the game (first was successful).

More bad baseball from the Sox?

"Nah, that's a good baseball game and only 3-2, it just happened that our pitcher got hit on the wrist and he tried to make a baseball play out of desperation," Cora said. "The thing that frustrates me is that inning, first and third, you know, and we try to do stuff that we usually don't but you know, this is where we at right now, you know, with the injuries and the personnel that we have and try to do something that we don't usually do and you know, we got picked off of third base."

Chris Sale has a successful return: Sale pitched five scoreless innings and even though he had some control issues at times, had most of his good stuff with a fastball that averaged 95 mph and throwing 67.9 percent of his pitches for strikes. 

"I kind of felt better as it went on,” Sale said. “Being able to have my best stuff, my powerful stuff, feeling strong in the fourth and fifth inning, that’s nice.”

Cora, who said Sale is very likely to start Sunday in The Bronx, was impressed Sale's three-hit, one-walk, five-strikeout stint of 78 pitches.

“He threw the ball well. He finished well,” Cora said. “I think he did an outstanding job at the end. Good velocity. Command of the pitches was OK, delivery was under control and he gave us five innings. That’s a good start.”

Two Red Sox go to the hospital after taking balls off the wrist: Not only did Strahm immediately exit the game with a wrist contusion, but Trevor Story also went for x-rays after taking a ball off the left wrist at the plate while swinging in the fifth. “Whenever the ball hits you and it’s around your face, it’s always scary,” Cora said of Story.

TURNING POINT

The Strahm play was a disaster. Yes, he was hurt. Yes, I'm sure he didn't react well due to adrenaline and all that, but if he just eats the ball, the bases are loaded and the Sox live to fight another out with a 2-1 lead. Instead, Strahm just panicked and made the type of play that would get a Little Leaguer benched.

"I think Strahm was trying to do a lot,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters. “He probably was not in the best headspace because he was in a lot of pain, and we were fortunate to score those two.”

THREE UP

Chris Sale: Gave the Red Sox everything they hoped for, and looked like a different and much healthier player than the last team we saw him. “I feel stronger now than I did at any time last year,” Sale said. “I’m in a much better physical spot, mental spot."

Jeter Downs: Entered for Story and went 2-for-2 with a walk as he continues to look comfortable and like he belongs in the big leagues.

Alex Verdugo: Despite his base-running blunder, which he blamed on the situation (including a lefty batter) and getting blocked from the base by the third baseman, was 2 for 4 with his 18 double as he continues to swing a hot bat.

TWO DOWN

Franchy Cordero: Not only did he have a mindless error that gave the Rays the lead, he is now 0-for-7 in Tampa with seven strikeouts. Time to take a seat.

Ryan Brasier: Has now allowed 5 hits, one walk and four runs (three earned) in his last two innings of work over three games.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“I’m not broken anymore. It’s different this year.” - Sale.

NOTES

• J.D. Martinez (back tightness) was unavailable and it's to be determined whether he can play on Wednesday. He was named an injury replacement for the All-Star Game.
• Kiké Hernández (right hip flexor) had his rehab assignment halted after seeing a doctor. Red Sox are reevaluating and will see how they need to proceed. “He just feels uncomfortable,” Cora said. “He felt it right away after the game and the next day he was very sore. Now, we’ve just got to stop it and look for other stuff.”
• Garrett Whitlock threw two shutout innings for Portland and is ready to go.
• Brayan Bello was sent back to Worcester to make room for Sale. “Keep competing, keep getting better,” Cora said of his message to Bello. “It’s not the final product, we know that. He was up here because of the circumstances. He got a taste of being a big-leaguer. That’s something he’ll always remember.”

UP NEXT

Red Sox will try to get a win against one of the best pitchers in the league this season as LHP Shane McClanahan (9-3, 1.73) goes against RHP Josh Winckowski (3-3, 4.35) at 7:10 p.m.