BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 7, Rays 3 - Triston Casas leads comeback win with three-run homer

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 7-3 win over the Rays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES 

Bryan Bello recovers after bad start: Bello allowed three runs on three hits and a walk in the first inning before settling down to strike out six Rays over the next five, two-hit shutout innings. He capped it by striking out Harold Ramírez on a 1-2 slider with runners on first and third to maintain a 4-3 Sox lead on his 96th pitch to escape the sixth. Josh Winckowski, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen closed the game with three perfect innings of relief.  

Triston Casas hits go-ahead home run: Casas took Chris Devenski deep over 400 feet to take a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning after Wilyer Abreu doubled, hitting leadoff in place of Alex Verdugo (hamstring), and Justin Turner walked. Casas later drove home Rafael Devers in the eighth after he walked and stole second in the eighth. Masataka Yoshida solidified Boston’s 7-3 win in the following at-bat with a two-run blast, his second consecutive game homering. Boston started the game 0-9 and Rays starter Aaron Civale struck out 12 Red Sox before his removal in the sixth with two inherited runners on set up Casas' game-saving blast on the second pitch he saw, a low changeup. 

FOUR UP

Bryan Bello: Pitched 1-2-3 innings in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings after allowing three runs in the first. Reese McGuire helped by catching Vidal Brujan stealing in the fifth, but Tampa hit only 1-12 over that stretch before Bello escaped a jam in the sixth. This kind of effort would’ve saved Boston’s playoff hopes with even one extra win last week against the Dodgers or Astros. Bello improved to 11-8 with a 3.61 ERA. 

Triston Casas: The rookie accolades keep stacking up with his 23rd home run before turning 24 next season. He’ll stay in the cleanup spot and has become the best story of this season, fittingly the youngest Sox with a homer and 4 RBI in a game since Rafael Devers. Since August began, Casas is hitting .307 over 101 at-bats with seven home runs, 19 RBI and five doubles, walking 15 times and striking out 25. He made his MLB debut one year ago.

Masataka Yoshida: Hit important home runs in back-to-back wins over the Royals and Rays to improve to 5-for-11 with 6 RBI over his past two games. Alex Cora mentioned him working to adjust his swing after falling to .255 since August began in the 25 games prior. Ceddanne Rafaela replaced him in the eighth inning defensively for the third straight game, a formula that seems to be working, but doesn't put Rafaela in position to hit consistently. Abreu, who hit a key double in the sixth, Enmanuel Valdez and Rafaela have largely sat since their call-ups when September began. Verdugo likely remains out for this entire series, so that'll open the door for spot starts like Abreu's alongside Yoshida and Adam Duvall (1-4, RBI single). 

The Bullpen: Perfect in three innings of relief with four strikeouts after Bello escaped the sixth. Wincowski pitched his sixth scoreless game over his last seven appearances. Martin, one of the league's best relievers, logged his 14th straight scoreless appearance and has only allowed one run in 27.2 innings pitched since June 9. Jansen, who allowed three hits and two runs in an inconsequential ninth inning yesterday after four days off, ended the game by forcing three flyouts over eight pitches. Boston's pitchers retired the final 10 Rays they saw. 

ONE DOWN 

Luis Urías: Hit 0-4 with two strikeouts and fell to .174 for the season, and 2-19 with 1 RBI over his last nine games. With Valdez showing something at the plate recently (2-7, 2 RBI, 1 BB) over the last two games, Urías might lose more playing time to Valdez and Pablo Reyes (elbow) when the latter returns. He'll remain on the roster to continue providing occasional relief for Devers at third base, and his back-to-back grand slams came only 16 days ago.

NOTABLE 

The Red Sox have claimed RHP Logan Gillaspie from Baltimore and assigned him to Triple-A Worcester. To make room on the 40-man, OF Jarren Duran (toe) transferred to 60-day IL.

OF Alex Verdugo missed the game with hamstring tightness that forced him out of Sunday's win at Kansas City. Alex Cora told reporters pre-game that Verdugo will also likely sit on Tuesday, with a Wednesday return the best-case scenario and Friday most likely at home against Baltimore. 

Boston broke a 13-game losing streak at Tropicana Field that dates back to April 2022. 

UP NEXT

Tuesday at Rays at 6:40 p.m., RHP Zach Eflin (13-8, 3.40 ERA) vs. RHP Kutter Crawford (6-7, 4.08 ERA)