The Tampa Bay Rays saw their five-game winning streak come to an end Wednesday night in Boston, as Josh Fleming allowed ten runs while not getting out of the fourth inning, eventuallydroppin a 20-8 decision to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Fleming fell behind almost before he could get his bearings, giving up consecutive doubles to the first three batters of the game, as Enrique Hernandez, Hunter Renfrow and Xander Bogaerts made it 2-0, and after Rafael Devers grounded out, J.D. Martinez‘s base hit plated Bogaerts to make it 3-0.
Boston added on in the second, as Bobby Dalbec drew a one-out walk, and two batters later the top of the order came back up to hit for a second time, and Hernandez and Renfroe would double again for the second time in the game, with the latter’s two-base hit driving in both runners for a 5-0 lead.
Fleming kept Boston off the board in the third, but in the fourth Hernandez led off with another hit, this time a single and Renfroe moved him into scoring position with a walk. Bogaerts struck out, but Devers followed with a double that plated Hernandez to make it 6-0. Martinez was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Kevin Plawecki was unintentionally walked to force in a run. Marwin Gonzalez‘s RBI single made it 8-0, and Dalbec’s two-run double turned the deficit to double digits and ended Fleming’s night.
Boston scored four more times in the fifth against reliever Dietrich Enns, with Martinez scoring Bogaerts on a double, and after Gonzalez walked to load the bases, Dalbec’s fly ball over Randy Arozarena‘s head cleared the bases on what was ruled a triple.
Tampa Bay had just two hits through the first five innings against Nathan Eovaldi, but Brandon Lowe got them on the board in the sixth with a solo home run, his 26th of the year.
The game stayed at that 14-1 score through the seventh, as Enns kept Boston off the board, but Cash had to use Francisco Mejia to pitch the eighth, and Boston added on six more runs against the catcher on a RBI singke by Renfrow, a three-run hmer by Bogaerts, an RBI triple by Connor Wong, and a RBI single by Gonzalez that made the score 20-1.
But Phillips Valdez, tasked with getting the final three outs of the ballgame, allowed Tampa Bay to not finish with the largest margin of defeat in franchise history. Ji-man Choi started with a base hit, and after Jordan Luplow drew a four pitch walk, a wild pitch moved both runners up a base and Austin Meadows walked on five pitches to load the bases. Wander Franco drove in a run with a base hit to make it 20-2, and after Arozarena struck out, Joey Wendle‘s RBI single cut the deficit to 20-3. Brett Phillips then launched his third grand slam in the last two weeks, his ninth home run of the year to make it a 20-7 game.
Mejia grounded out for the second out of the inning, but Zunino followed with a solo shot of his own into the seats atop the left field wall, setting the score at 20-8.
Valdez got Choi to ground out to end the game.
The loss drops the Rays lead in the American League East back to four games over Boston.
Tampa Bay can still earn a series win with a victory in Thursday afternoon’s rubber game, as Drew Rasmussen (1-1, 4.15 ERA) will get the start in a bullpen day, taking on Tanner Houck (0-2, 2.45 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10.
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.
