The Boston Red Sox took home a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.
While a win in the scorebook is nice, at this point in the season, the little things seem to carry a little bit more weight. That was the case for Rich Hill, who was effective once again in what may end up being his final start as a member of the Red Sox.
“This has been such a great clubhouse… that’s what makes it such a difficult ending to this season. It just speaks to the character of the guys that are in this clubhouse,” Hill said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “… This is obviously a place that — It would be nice. It would be nice to come back. It would be great to come back and compete for a championship.”
Hill went six innings, allowing just three runs on three hits to one of the American League’s best offenses. Though he didn’t get the win, that performance was enough to keep Boston in the game long enough to eventually breakthrough and take a late lead. Red Sox manager Alex Cora had a simple response to Hill’s season finale.
“He can pitch. It’s simple. He can pitch,” Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “… He’s very important inside that clubhouse. The way he goes about it, obviously everybody knows his story. He’s relentless in everything he does. He’s a guy, when you sit down with him it’s a nice conversation. He’s very intense, he starts talking and he closes his eyes and goes wherever he goes… We’ve had some great conversations this season… he did an outstanding job for us this year.”
Here are some other notes from Monday’s Red Sox-Rays game:
— Hill’s six-strikeout performance brought his season total to 109. That number is the 20th best mark in Major League Baseball history, slotting just one behind Cy Young’s 110 strikeouts in 1909, per Red Sox information’s J.P. Long.
— Xander Bogaerts was not in the Red Sox lineup Monday, but his absence should be short lived. Cora said Bogaerts is expected to be ready to go on Tuesday, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe.
— Rafael Devers’ 3-for-3 night brought his total of three-hit nights to 13 this season. He is batting .340 with a .920 OPS and 22 RBIs in 26 games since the start of September, per Red Sox information’s Raleigh Clark.
— Christian Arroyo is batting .316 (50-for-158) with 15 extra-base hits (12 doubles, one triple and one home run) and 21 RBIs in 43 games since being reinstated from the injured list on July 30.
— The Red Sox will play their penultimate game of the season Tuesday night against the Rays. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action beginning at 6 p.m. on NESN.
