Tampa Bay Rays Pound Red Sox, Snap 11-Game Losing Streak
Seven runs is usually more than enough offense to win an MLB game, but not when the same team gives up 13 runs to the otherwise light-hitting Tampa Bay Rays.
In the first game of a three-game series, Tampa Bay ended its 11-game losing streak last night with an 18-hit attack against the visiting Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida; this latest setback was Boston’s 10th loss in the last 15 games. Boston’s record since May 26 is 12-18.
The exterior dome of the indoor stadium is illuminated in orange each time the Rays notch a win, so the lights were definitely on last night as the team ended its longest losing streak in seven years.
Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez, 25, allowed five runs in the first inning, and the game was effectively over at that point. The Rays scored four runs off E-Rod in the third; manager John Farrell finally called in reliever Robbie Ross to finish the inning. After the game, E-Rod was sent down to Triple-A Pawtucket, which is not surprising in that his ERA has ballooned to 8.59.
E-Rod missed the first two months of the season with a knee injury, but last year he impressed while compiling a 10-6 record over 21 starts, with a 3.85 ERA.
There has been a lot of chatter that E-Rod has been tipping his pitches by the way he holds his glove, but supposedly that issue was addressed.
Logan Forsythe, Desmond Jennings, and Nick Franklin (who drove in a career-high five runs) all homered in the game against the Sox.
After a hot April and May, the Red Sox have been scuffling to say the least, with extreme pitching woes and an inconsistent offense. In general, it seems that when they score a lot of runs, they don’t get any pitching, and vice versa. In the last two series, they lost 3 of 4 to the Chicago White Sox and 2 of 3 to the Texas Rangers.
“In the past 15 games, Boston has been outscored 22-0 in the first inning after outscoring its opponents 60-32 in the previous 61 games,” ESPN explained.
Speculation/pressure is increasing that Sox team president Dave Dombrowski will have to make a trade for at least one arm, and possibly being forced to give up some highly touted minor league prospects in the exchange. “The Red Sox are collapsing on a hamster wheel of pitching. Why aren’t they wheeling and dealing instead?,” the Boston Herald wondered.
In addition to ongoing pitching challenges, left field has been a hazardous area for the Sox, with Blake Swihart, Brock Holt, and Chris Young all out with injuries, although recent call-up Bryce Brentz went 3-4 last night, with two doubles and two RBI.
The Red Sox have fallen to 41-35 (18-17 away), 4-1/2 games behind the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles. Boston is three games under.500 against AL East opponents.
Last place Tampa now has a record of 32-43, 16-20 on their home field at the Trop. Tampa rookie starter Blake Snell secured his first MLB career win in the outing against the Red Sox.
“The Red Sox have shown patience with him, but as the pitching staff allows more runs than Boston can produce, they may need to sacrifice his abilities for a short time for offense,” CalltothePen explained.
#MLB Tampa Bay #Rays break 11-game skid with 13-7 win over Boston Red Sox https://t.co/GT1fFC1Pt9 pic.twitter.com/D9BkGyLtos
— TBRays Fan Zone (@TBRays_FZ) June 28, 2016
During a mound conference in the second inning after E-Rod allowed an infield single (one of 11 hits while he was in the game), second baseman Dustin Pedroia got in the pitcher’s face, but the lefty continued to be ineffective.
Dustin Pedroia with some choice words for Eduardo Rodriguez in midst of another meltdown. https://t.co/8STRgXfPeA
— John Tomase (@jtomase) June 28, 2016
“The Red Sox have failed to either evaluate a good chunk of their starting pitching candidates, or fallen short when it comes to getting the most out of them. Either way, this is an enormous piece of the blame pie,” NESN declared.
The Rays’ Chris Archer (4-10, with a 4.40 ERA) takes the hill tonight against Rick Porcello of the Red Sox (8-2, with a 3.93 ERA).
[Photo by Reinhold Matay/AP]
