The Boston Red Sox fell 17-8 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday in a performance they’ll definitely want to forget about.
Despite almost every player in the lineup recording a hit, the pitching and fielding effort was too much for Boston to overcome as the Rays completed the four-game sweep.
Without Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi in the lineup, and getting to a point where two position players had to take over on the mound, the Red Sox fell further behind in the American League East standings, now seven full games behind the first-place New York Yankees.
Tampa, meanwhile, is in second place improving to 12-8. With the loss, Boston fell to 6-13 on the season.
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Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Wacky.
The pitching was bad. The fielding was bad. And the batters never stood a chance as Boston gave up 19 hits that converted to 17 runs.
Oh, and two position players had to pitch.
ON THE BUMP
— This definitely wasn’t how Kyle Hart dreamed his Major League Baseball debut would go, but such is life. And the lefty got into a jam right away. In two-plus innings of work, Hart gave up seven runs (five earned) on as many hits and three walks. Hart gave up back-to-back home runs in the third after walking the leadoff batter. He threw 73 pitches.
Silver lining? He recorded four strikeouts in the outing.
First big league K.
Welcome to the show, Kyle Hart! pic.twitter.com/z80dymDAMS— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 13, 2020
— Phillips Valdez took over in the third. He gave up three unearned runs on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts over three innings of work.
— Marcus Walden unfortunately didn’t last very long in relief. He failed to record a single out, giving up six earned runs on five hits and a walk, including two home runs.
Renfroe to the MOON pic.twitter.com/OLDseMmZyK
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 13, 2020
— Given what he inherited, Josh Osich put together a solid two innings for Boston. He gave up just one hit and struck out five batters.
— Heath Hembree came in and made quick work of Tampa as well, getting the team through the eighth inning with a clean sheet and two strikeouts.
— Desperate times call for desperate measures, so the Red Sox moved Jose Peraza from shortstop to the mound to finish off the ninth.
Given his performance at the plate, we won’t hold his inning of relief against him. Because after all, he isn’t a pitcher, and because he was hurt taking a line drive off the shin. Peraza gave up one earned run on two hits.
— Next up on the mound? Catcher Kevin Plawecki, of course. He finished out the ninth, recording the last two outs with just one walk given up and, thankfully, no injuries.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Rafeal Devers got things going for the Red Sox in the first, singling to left center and scoring Alex Verdugo. A Plawecki double three batters later provided the go-ahead runs, scoring J.D. Martinez and Devers to make it 3-1.
1st Inning summary:
🔺Dugie leadoff double
🔺Raffy RBI-single
🔺Plawecki 2-run double
🔺3-2 lead pic.twitter.com/sS0d71GPSO— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 13, 2020
— Martinez walked in the third and later scored when Jonathan Arauz continued his hot streak with a double to make it 8-4.
— In the bottom of the fourth, Martinez doubled to center to score Peraza, but the Red Sox still were in a 10-5 hole.
— The Red Sox put up three runs in the bottom of the ninth, starting with Verdugo walking and Devers grounding into a fielder’s choice. Michael Chavis singled to center to score Devers, and Pillar followed that up with a double to deep center to bring in Chavis and Devers.
— Plawecki was 2-for-5 with a run and three RBIs.
Peraza was 2-for-4 with a run, while Arauz also recorded a multi-hit game going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Michael Chavis went 2-for-2 with a run after beginning the game on the bench.
Martinez was 1-for-2 with two runs off a hit and two walks while Devers was 1-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Jackie Bradley Jr. was 0-for-4 on the day.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Remember the bottom of the first inning, before it all went down hill? That was fun.
1st Inning summary:
🔺Dugie leadoff double
🔺Raffy RBI-single
🔺Plawecki 2-run double
🔺3-2 lead pic.twitter.com/sS0d71GPSO— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 13, 2020
UP NEXT
The Red Sox now get to put this series behind them and head to New York for a four-game series against the Yankees. First pitch is Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
