It almost seems like it’s a nightly occurrence that the Tampa Bay Rays use a late comeback to beat a team, but they did it again on Tuesday night in Boston, as Ji-Man Choi‘s two-run double in the seventh erased what was a 4-2 deficit, and Francisco Mejia‘s base hit and an error by Hunter Renfroe cleared the baes in the ninth, lrading Tampa Bay to an 8-4 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
The two sides traded longballs early in the contest, with Rafael Devers jumping on a first-pitch fastball from Red Sox starter Luis Patino to lead off the bottom of the second, and Brandon Lowe returning the favor in the top of the third, his 25th of the season.
But Patino could not keep the game tied, as in the fourth he allowed a base hit to Xander Bogaerts, and after getting Devers to pop out and striking out J.D. Martinez, the 21-year-old walked Kevin Plawecki on four pitches, and Renfrow made Patino pay with a three-run blast to straightaway center, his 19th of the season.
Tampa Bay got one more run back off Rodriguez in the sixth, as Mike Zunino doubled off the center field wall, and scored three batters later when Wander Franco singled to center.
The Rays drew even an inning later against reliever Garrett Whitlock, who allowed a single to Manuel Margot, then a double to Lowe. Kevin Cash then went to the bench to bring in Choi to pinch-hit for Zunino, and his double off the left field wall brought in both runners to tie the game at four apiece.
Tampa Bay wasted a bases-loaded opportunity in the eighth, but after Andrew Kittredge worked his second scoreless inning of relief, the Rays would load the bases again in the top of the ninth against Matt Barnes, as Arozarena started with a ground-rune double to right. Nelson Cruz struck out, and Franco drew a walk before Diaz struck out for the second out of the inning. Austin Meadows loaded the bases on another free pass, and Mejia, who entered the game in the bottom of the seventh to replace Zunino, lined a single to right that plated Arozarena and Franco, and when Renfroe overran the ball, Meadows was also able to come around and score.
Martin Perez then walked Margot intentionally, and Lowe drove in Mejia with a base hit to set the score at 8-4.
Louis Head worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to finish off the game.
Tampa Bay has now won six straight games against Boston, and their win Tuesday extends the lead in the American League East to five games.
The Rays and Red Sox will go at it again Wednesday evening, with Josh Fleming (9-5, 4.12 ERA) taking on Nathan Eovaldi (9-7, 4.07 ERA). Firts pitch is scheduled for 7:10.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
