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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2021 3:40:35 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 10h Hansel Robles being shocked when he doesn't get a strike called is pretty funny. You'd think he'd be used to it.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2021 3:46:27 GMT -5
Boston Red Sox post 2 hits in loss to Rays after scoring 20 runs night before; Marwin Gonzalez, Franchy Cordero, Jarren Duran combine for 8 Ks Updated Aug 12, 2021; Posted Aug 12, 2021
By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
BOSTON — Rays 20-year-old rookie Wander Franco continued to crush Red Sox pitching Thursday.
Franco blasted a 405-foot home run to left-center field off starter Tanner Houck. It capped off an 11-pitch at-bat and broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning. The Rays won 8-1 over the Red Sox here at Fenway Park.
The Sox dropped the three-game series, 2-1, to Tampa.
Boston scored 20 runs on 19 hits in a 20-8 win over the Rays on Wednesday. But the offense managed just two hits Thursday afternoon.
Marwin Gonzalez and Franchy Cordero went a combined 0-for-6 with five strikeouts from the bottom two spots of the lineup. Jarren Duran, batting second, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Franco vs. the Red Sox
Franco, who Baseball America ranked No. 1 on its 2021 preseason Top 100 list, is 11-for-34 (.324) with two homers, two triples, two doubles and 11 RBIs against the Red Sox.
He’s 26-for-119 (.218) with three homers, one triple, two doubles and 10 RBIs against everyone else.
Houck went 5-plus innings, allowing four runs (three earned), six hits and no walks while striking out eight.
The righty allowed a single to Brandon Lowe and two-run homer to Franco to begin the sixth. He then gave up a double to Nelson Cruz before being removed.
Josh Taylor replaced Houck. He retired Austin Meadows on a groundout, struck out Joey Wendle swinging and intentionally walked Yandy Diaz.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora replaced Taylor with Hansel Robles who walked Manuel Margot to load the bases and committed a balk to force in the Rays’ fourth run.
Houck throws 11 splitters
Houck entered having thrown just 18 splitters in his first seven outings, five starts (25 ⅔ innings). But he threw 11 here Thursday and got three swings-and-misses with it.
He got 18 swings-and-misses: seven with his four-seam fastball, five with his sinker and three each with his slider and splitter.
Boston’s only run
Boston tied it 1-1 in the fourth inning. Rafael Devers hit a 111.2 mph double into the triangle to score Kiké Hernández from first base.
What’s next?
The Red Sox will host the Baltimore Orioles for three games starting Friday at 7:10 p.m. Righty Nick Pivetta (8-5, 4.34 ERA) will pitch Friday. Chris Sale will make his 2021 debut Saturday. Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (8-6, 5.24 ERA) will start Sunday.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2021 3:47:29 GMT -5
Boston Red Sox fall victim to wonky Fenway Park ground rules as Wander Franco hits unusual homer: ‘That’s a first,’ Alex Cora says Updated Aug 12, 2021; Posted Aug 12, 2021
By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
BOSTON -- It would be hard to find a Fenway Park home run stranger than the one Wander Franco hit in the Rays’ blowout win over the Red Sox on Thursday afternoon.
With the game tied, 1-1, in the sixth inning, Franco lifted the 11th Tanner Houck pitch he saw deep to center field. The ball ricocheted off the Green Monster -- to the left side of the yellow line separating home runs from balls in play -- and then ricocheted off the flag pole beyond the center-field wall.
The play was immediately ruled a home run, giving the Rays a 3-1 lead. And it was the correct call, according to Fenway Park ground rules.
“Batted ball in flight striking left center field wall to left of line behind flagpole and bounding into seats on top of center field wall: Home Run,” reads the list of ground rules on MLB.com. The area where Franco’s ball landed counted as seats, meaning it was a home run and not a ground-rule double.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said umpires usually mention the possibility of such a play during pregame meetings.
“They always talk about it when they talk about the rules, the umpires,” Cora said. “They go, ‘High wall to little wall,’ whatever. I’m like, ‘Yeah right, I’m never going to see that.’ And it happened. That’s a first.”
Franco’s blast, which was hit 405 feet with an exit velocity of 104.2 mph, needed to have a significant amount of spin on it to bounce from left to right and land beyond the center-field wall. Houck, who had cruised through his first four innings, said
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Houck said. “But that’s what you get whenever you’re at a historical ballpark with all the nooks and crannies and the layout of the field. Something new with baseball every single day, I swear.
“Even we don’t know the whole rulebook,” he added. “Definitely interesting. Learned something new today.”
Franco’s homer was the culmination of an intense battle of talented rookies. Franco fouled off six of the first 10 pitches he saw, working the count to 3-2 before crushing the 91.9 mph sinker for a homer.
“It was a great battle,” Cora said. “Sliders and he kept fouling it off, fouling it off. He threw a sinker, I think it was up, and (Franco) put a good swing on it.”
The Red Sox know they are always apt to have wonky things happen when playing at home in a 108-year-old ballpark.
“I’m looking for someone to hit the ladder in left field to see what happens there, too,” Cora joked.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2021 3:57:31 GMT -5
hahahahaha
Lou Merloni @loumerloni · 10h Wow, walk a guy intentionally just to get him out of the game. That’s how much confidence he has in Davis? Great bullpen additions.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2021 4:02:45 GMT -5
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne · 9h A day after they got 20 hits and 19 runs to breathe some life back into Fenway, the Red Sox today and one run and two hits in a flat loss that makes them 1-5 against the Rays over the last two weeks. They've lost seven of their last eight to Tampa Bay going back to June 23.
Sorry that should have said 20 runs and 19 hits. But you get what I'm saying.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2021 4:03:22 GMT -5
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne · 9h Just overheard Rays long-time beat writer @tbtimes_Rays asking Kevin Cash about holding the Red Sox to just two hits despite not using basically any of his best pitchers. Marc said it in a nicer way. Just shows how bad this was offensively by the Red Sox today.
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