September 21, 2015

G149: Red Sox 8, Rays 7

Rays    - 300 000 031 - 7 11  1
Red Sox - 000 100 34x - 8 10  1
Xander Bogaerts's eighth-inning grand slam erased Tampa Bay's 6-4 lead. Bogaerts finished the night 2-for-5, with a double, home run, two runs scored, and five RBI. Boston (72-77) moved into sole possession of fourth place, dropping the Rays into the basement.

After Xavier Cedeno struck out the first two Boston hitters in the eighth, he plunked Jackie Bradley with a pitch. Mookie Betts (2-for-3, 2 BB) and Dustin Pedroia (3-for-4) each singled and Bogaerts nailed a 2-2 pitch to left field for his seventh home run of the season.

David Price and the Blue Jays beat the Yankees 4-2. Toronto leads the East by 3.5 games.
Example
Chris Archer / Eduardo Rodriguez
Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Shaw, 1B
Castillo, LF
Holt, 3B
Hanigan, C
Bradley, CF
A win tonight will put the Red Sox in fourth place!

In his last two starts against Boston (June 28 and September 11), Archer has allowed eight runs in 11 innings. I hope that if the Red Sox beat Archer again, they don't celebrate too much and hurt his feelings.

Alex Speier of the Globe notes that Rodriguez's 1.68 ERA in night games this year "is the lowest since at least 1914 by a Red Sox pitcher who has made 10 or more night starts in a season, besting Pedro’s 1.82 mark in his outrageous 1999 season."

Note: I know you have to add that "since at least 1914" qualifier when using Baseball Reference's Play Index, but there were absolutely no night games before 1914, so in this case you can say "in Red Sox history" and be completely safe!

Also: Yankees at Blue Jays. Toronto leads the East by 2.5 games.

2 comments:

allan said...

Unique Headline Of the Day:
"Pantsless dude rips children’s urinal off wall, floods Blue Jays' stadium"

allan said...

ESPN: "Masahiro Tanaka, who was scheduled to start the final game of the Yankees' three-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Wednesday, has been scratched with a Grade 1 strain of his right hamstring, which he suffered running the bases on Friday night. Ivan Nova, who had been demoted from the rotation after being shelled for six earned runs in 1.2 innings at Yankee Stadium, will make the start in Tanaka's place."