After dropping their first three games of the season to the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox took their frustrations out on the Tampa Bay Rays, pounding out 16 hits in taking the opener from Tampa Bay 11-2 Monday at Fenway Park.
Rays starter Michael Wacha allowed eight of the 16 hits in his five innings of work, initially falling behind in the second inning as Christian Vazquez singled to start the frame, scoring three batters later on a double by Franchy Cordero.
The game stayed 1-0 into the fourth, when Tampa Bay was fortunate to only allow two more runs. Vazquez and Marwin Gonzalez started with singles and a wild pitch by Wacha moved the runners up a base. Hunter Renfroe looked to clear the bases with a line drive into the gap, but Randy Arozarena made a leaping catch that meant the possible triple would instead only be a sacrifice fly and a 2-0 lead.
Cordero would make it 3-0 with a groundout that scored Gonzalez.
Things would go from bad to worse in the fifth, as Xander Bogaerts‘ double, coupled with some bad defensive play by the Rays pushed the Red Sox lead to 5-0.
Chris Mazza, just called up Monday as Chaz Roe was placed on the injured list, was greeted rudely by the Red Sox, as Kike Hernandez made it 6-0 with an RBI double, and Alex Verdugo‘s sacrifice fly gave Boston a 7-0 advantage
The Rays finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth, using three singles off Matt Andriese by Yoshi Tsutsugo, Arozarena, and Brandon Lowe to load the bases, and Darwinzon Hernandez allowed two of his inherited runners to score by walking Manuel Margot and pinch-hitter Joey Wendle back-to-back to force in a pair of runs.
But Boston countered with four more runs in their half of the eighth against Jeffrey Springs. Verdugo drove in a run with a base hit, and Martinez followed with a three-run homer to set the score.
Tyler Glasnow (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will look to end Tampa Bay’s two-game skid Tuesday night, when he takes on Martin Perez (3-5, 4.50 ERA in 2020). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10.
Kiermaier Leaves Game With Quad Tightness
Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier left Monday’s game in the fourth inning with what the team is calling tightness in his left quad.
“Concerning, not ideal for sure” is how manager Kevin Cash described the injury. “I think he felt it when he hit the ground ball [in the second inning] when he ran down the first base line.”
Kiermaier has dealt with multiple lower-body issues this year. He missed the start of Spring Training with hip tightness, and his left quad caused him to miss time midway through the Grapefruit League.
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.
