Red Sox - 000 001 003 - 4 5 0 Rays - 000 001 000 - 1 3 1Xander Bogaerts doubled home the go-ahead run in the ninth and the Rays gift-wrapped a couple of insurance runs with a wild pitch and a passed ball.
David Price (6-3-1-3-9, 90) allowed only two Rays past first base, both coming in his final inning. Matt Barnes, Joe Kelly, and Craig Kimbrel each pitched a perfect inning of relief.
CC Sabathia imploded in Texas and the Yankees lost 12-10, giving the Red Sox a 1.5-game lead in the East.
The early innings of this game were filled with strikeouts, with Price and Chris Archer (6-4-1-3-6, 95) fanning 14 batters in the first four innings. (Also, the four hits Archer allowed were to the bottom three hitters in the Red Sox order.)
With two outs in the fifth, Eduardo Nunez singled to right. Jackie Bradley lined a ball into the gap in left-center. It rolled to the wall and Nunez tried to score. He went in standing up and was tagged out as he collided with Tampa catcher Jesus Sucre. Christian Vazquez was standing alongside the plate and he seemed to make no indication to Nunez that he should slide.
After he was tagged out, Nunez stared at Vaz as if to say WTF? Relays showed that Vazquez had actually made an early sign to Nunez that he should not slide, so Nunez slowed up on his way to the plate. How Vazquez could not see that there would be a throw to the plate is hard to figure.
Vazquez did his part to atone by leading off the sixth with a line drive single to left. Archer walked both Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi. Hanley Ramirez drove in a run, but he hit into a double play while doing so. J.D. Martinez grounded out to end the inning.
The Rays tied the game right away. Price walked Denard Span and he scored on C.J. Cron's double to deep center. Price got the next three outs, stranding Cron at third.
With two outs in the eighth, Chaz Roe walked Betts and Benintendi, but Ramirez flied to center.
Martinez began the ninth inning against Alex Colombe by grounding to shortstop. Willy Adames, in his second major league game, threw low to first for a two-base error. Bogaerts ripped a 1-2 pitch down the left field line for a double, giving Boston a 2-1 lead.
Colome walked Rafael Devers. Then his 0-2 pitch to Nunez rolled a little ways away from Sucre and the runners reacted immediately, advancing to second and third on the wild pitch. Bogaerts scored on Nunez's sac fly to center. Devers also advanced, to third, and he scored easily when Colome's 0-2 pitch to Bradley got through Sucre's legs to the backstop for a passed ball. It was a highly enjoyable Crooked Cap Crumble. Plus, Colome was not allowed to finish the inning, as Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash brought in another reliever to get the third out.
NESN: Soon after Price was relieved, NESN's Dave O'Brien spoke authoritatively about the lefty's outing, saying he gave up four hits. It was actually three. That might seem minor, but since OB was proclaiming how great Price was, he should get his numbers right. When a new pitcher comes into a game, an announcement is made in the press box, giving the previous pitcher's line. I think everyone has heard these announcements through the TV or radio; the announcer often repeats it even as it is being given. Plus, O'Brien has his own scorecard.
Later, O'Brien said that Rob Refsynder had been thrown out trying to steal second base in the fifth inning "by 20 feet". The play was not close, certainly, but 20 feet? I'll let you decide. Here is Nunez about to put the tag on Refsynder. Is the runner 20 feet from either the fielder or the base? (Or is this like when we hear a home run has been hit "nine miles", but we watch it land in the 10th row?)
I guess when you cannot get it together to show every pitch of a game, the accuracy of what the announcer is saying is a distant afterthought.
Let's just say I'm glad Dave O'Brien is not my tailor. If I told him I needed the cuffs on a pair of pants taken up an inch, he'd likely give me back a pair of shorts.
In his last start, Price was in total command, pitching 8.2 shutout innings and finishing with a complete-game, six-hitter against the Orioles. ... Meanwhile, Chris Archer is a douche bonnet.
MFY Watch: Each new, young player is more intangibly magnificent than the last. True greatness is always impossible to measure.
3 comments:
Each new, young player is more intangibly magnificent than the last
I cannot wait until they are tearing him down in another few weeks due to his inexperience, his lack of confidence, etc.
douche bonnet
His new nickname?
Works for me. But I really imagine Teixeira's horseface when I say it.
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