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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 6, 2021 17:09:40 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 2m #Rays 11, #RedSox 10 (10), final.
A tidy 4:50.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 6, 2021 17:10:57 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 1m Just a brutal afternoon for the #RedSox in this one. They allowed 19 hits, committed four errors, left 12 men on base and squandered a 7-1 lead.
Yankees maintain their hold on the top AL wild card spot. Boston qualifying and earning the right to host the game would be critical.
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Sept 6, 2021 18:59:32 GMT -5
The fielding will improve when Kike and Arroyo return, but right now, it is awful.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 2:33:06 GMT -5
Defense betrays Sox in 'gut punch' of a loss September 6th, 2021 Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
BOSTON -- When the madness had ended, and the Red Sox had suffered a crushing 11-10 loss to the Rays in 10 innings in a Labor Day matinee at Fenway Park, the expression on Alex Verdugo’s face said it all.
As his teammates went to the clubhouse, Verdugo sat on the bench by himself with a look of disgust.
It was a tough day on defense for Verdugo, who just missed a leaping attempt on a drive to the wall in center by Austin Meadows that turned into a game-tying inside-the-park homer in the top of the ninth inning of a game the Red Sox led, 7-1, after three innings with Chris Sale on the mound.
And part of the reason that lead was whittled away so much was because Verdugo was blinded by the sun on a fly ball by Nelson Cruz that could have been the final out of the top of the fourth inning.
But the ball ticked off Verdugo’s glove for a three-base error that was made worse when second baseman Taylor Motter’s throw to third went out of play, allowing the Rays to score four unearned runs against Sale on one play.
“Sun ball obviously hurt us a lot,” said Red Sox right fielder Hunter Renfroe. “I’ve told y'all before, the big ball of fire in the sky is undefeated. You can’t fight it and win. It happened to Dougie there. If he would’ve hit the ball to right field between the sixth and 10th inning, both right fielders couldn’t see anything, me included. That’s a tough one to lose there. Four runs. Obviously, it sucks that it happened, but you get over it, keep going.”
While Verdugo was clearly in the spotlight in this loss, it would be unfair to scapegoat him.
The Red Sox didn’t play close to a clean game defensively, making four errors. There were also plays in which they were slow to back up and others where they threw to the wrong base, help that the Red Sox couldn’t afford to give to a Rays squad that had 19 hits.
“It was a great, bad game -- all the way to the last hitter,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “It wasn't great as far as throwing to the bases, backing up guys, putting guys away. It was great that we had a chance to tie the game or win it at the end, but at the same time, we can't give a big league team more than 27 outs, and we did.”
In particular, you can’t give the Rays more than 27 outs. Not only are they 87-51 and in possession of the best record in the American League, but they lead MLB with 43 comeback wins.
“This is sports. Stuff like this is gonna happen,” said Sale. “Days like this hurt. There's no getting around it. You know, it's a gut punch. We lost a game we should have won – easily, honestly. I mean, we had a 7-1 lead. We’ve got to have that one.”
On the inside-the-parker, it was telling of Boston’s subpar defense that shortstop José Iglesias -- in his first day back with the Red Sox -- was the one who had to run all the way to center field to retrieve it.
“The corner outfielders, they have got to go there,” said Cora. “Iggy went out there because of his instincts. But balls to center field, everybody has to crash there, and they didn't.”
Sure, it hurt the Red Sox (79-61) to fall nine games back in the American League East to the Rays. But the bigger focus is the AL Wild Card race, and Boston could have leap-frogged the Yankees (78-59) -– who lost to Toronto -– for the top spot.
Instead, by losing a second straight game, the Sox remained a half-game behind the Yankees while leading the Mariners (75-62) by 2 1/2 games, the Blue Jays (74-62) by three games and the A’s (74-63) by 3 1/2 for the second spot.
While the Red Sox deserve credit for the way they’ve hung in there despite a COVID-19 outbreak that put 11 players on the injured list in a span of 10 days, there is also this truth: They will need to play cleaner baseball to get to the postseason.
That includes better execution on defense and an improvement with situational hitting.
“I think we have been inconsistent the whole season,” Cora said of the team’s defense. “We know that. When we're catching the ball, we win games. When we're inconsistent, it's tough. It's for the reason I just told you. It doesn't matter who you are. The Rays, or whoever is in last place. At the big league level, 27 outs are 27 outs. We have to value those. But if you give the opposition more than that, they are going to make you pay. The whole day today, they made us pay.”
Even after the inside-the-park homer, the Sox had a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. But Christian Vázquez didn’t get a sacrifice bunt down, instead popping out. And then Jonathan Araúz hit into a double play to send the game to extras.
This was the first time the Red Sox have lost in the five starts Sale has made in his return from the injured list.
It was a strange day for Sale, who allowed 10 hits and five runs (just one earned) over 4 2/3 innings and 86 pitches. If not for the four-run sun play, Sale would have been back out for the fifth inning at 75 pitches and still ahead by at least a score of 7-1.
“Tough pill to swallow at the end of the day, honestly,” Sale said. “Bounces didn’t go our way, we got a little unlucky, we obviously didn’t help ourselves a lot. But in the end, against a team like that, we still gave ourselves a chance to win that game. We should have pulled through. Obviously, an ugly, ugly loss and in the grand scheme of things, and we want to get back on track tomorrow.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 2:34:49 GMT -5
Red Sox Nation Stats @rsnstats · 9h 1st time Chris Sale has allowed 10 hits in a start since May 30, 2017 vs #WhiteSox. He’s never allowed 10 hits in as few as 3.2 IP, as he did today.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 2:50:10 GMT -5
Red Sox blow a big lead and suffer one of their worst losses of the season By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated September 6, 2021, 6:06 p.m.
The Red Sox had a six-run lead with Chris Sale on the mound in the fourth inning. What could go wrong?
Just about everything, in some cases several times.
In one of the worst losses of this or any season, dreadful defense and poor pitching allowed the Tampa Bay Rays to come back and beat the Sox, 11-10, in 10 innings Monday at Fenway Park.
“We just lost a game we should have won,” Sale said.
With a chance to move ahead of the Yankees in the American League wild-card standings, the Sox were charged with four errors and made a series of fundamental mistakes that led to six unearned runs.
So inept were the Sox that Rays players twice circled the bases because of basic defensive mistakes.
“The whole day today, they made us pay,” manager Alex Cora said after the Rays outscored the Sox 10-3 over the final seven innings.
Cora has been visibly upset about poor defense after some losses this season. He was more matter of fact on Monday.
“It’s hard, but this is who we are,” Cora said, referring to a roster dotted with replacement players filling in for regulars on the COVID-19 injured list.
Even with all the flubs, the Sox had runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the ninth of a 9-9 game.
But they couldn’t score as Christian Vazquez popped up a bunt and Jonathan Araúz grounded into a double play.
The Rays didn’t waste their chances. With a runner on second to start the 10th inning, Nelson Cruz drove in his third run with a single to right and took second when Hunter Renfroe made a needless throw to the plate.
The 41-year-old Cruz alertly took second and scored on a single by Brandon Lowe.
With an 11-9 lead and Araúz on second to start the bottom of the inning, the Rays had Collin McHugh intentionally balk so the catcher’s signs couldn’t be stolen.
José Iglesias, who was added to the roster earlier in the day, followed with an RBI single. With one out, Renfroe grounded to third but reached on an error by Joey Wendle.
With the tying run at second, J.D. Martinez lined out to right. Rafael Devers drew a walk to load the bases.
A game that lasted 4 hours and 56 minutes finally ended when pinch hitter Kevin Plawecki grounded out to shortstop.
“Tough game,” Renfroe said. “It was an exciting game. It was fun. Came up short there at the end.”
That was a rosy view considering it was the only the second time in six seasons the Sox scored 10 runs and lost.
“Days like this hurt,” Sale said. “There’s no getting around it. It’s a gut punch.”
The Sox seemed to take control when they sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning and scored six runs. Taylor Motter, claimed off waivers from the Rockies last week, drove in the first run with a double. Renfroe drove in Motter with a double high off the wall.
The Rays intentionally walked Martinez and Devers made them pay with an RBI single. Bobby Dalbec, who has 28 RBIs in his last 31 games, followed with a two-run double.
Alex Verdugo’s sacrifice fly made it 7-1.
Sale carried that lead into the fourth inning and got two quick outs. Taylor Walls, Randy Arozarena, and Wander Franco followed with singles to load the bases.
Cruz’s fly ball to center should have been the third out. But Verdugo lost the ball in the sun and it clanged off his glove. Related: Red Sox add some infield depth by reacquiring shortstop José Iglesias
Three runs scored as Cruz motored to third base. Motter’s relay throw sailed out of play and Cruz scored to cut the lead to 7-5 on a Little League grand slam.
Cruz was initially credited with a triple before Verdugo was rightfully charged with an error.
After two more singles, Garrett Richards replaced Sale. Manuel Margot sent a line drive to center and this time Verdugo saved two runs with a leaping grab on the run.
Franco singled and scored on a Jordan Luplow single in the sixth. The Sox answered in the bottom of the inning as Motter tripled to center and scored on Renfroe’s single.
Rays pinch hitter Mike Zunino lined a ball off the wall in the seventh and should have been out at second base as Martinez made a strong throw. But Motter dropped the ball and was charged with his second error.
Zunino came around on Arozarena’s single off Adam Ottavino.
The Sox punched back when Araúz homered to center. The Rays didn’t quit, Cruz crushing a home run to left off Ottavino leading off the eighth.
After not allowing a home run for nearly a calendar year, Ottavino has given up two in his last two appearances.
With a 9-8 lead, the Sox turned to Garrett Whitlock in the ninth inning. Leadoff hitter Austin Meadows drilled a two-strike fastball to center field that deflected off the wall over Verdugo’s glove.
As Verdugo spun around looking for the ball, he had no backup. The corner outfielders, Martinez and Renfroe, weren’t there.
Iglesias, the shortstop, finally retrieved the ball. His throw skipped past Dalbec and Meadows scored easily.
“Everybody has to crash there, they didn’t,” Cora said.
Renfroe acknowledged arriving late on the scene but defended his angle.
“I usually go to the right side [of the center fielder] in case the ball squirts to the right,” he said.
In February, when spring training opened, Cora said the defense had to improve. Six months later, that’s still the case.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 2:52:41 GMT -5
red sox notebook Red Sox add some infield depth by reacquiring shortstop José Iglesias By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated September 6, 2021, 3:29 p.m.
The search for infield depth amid their COVID-19 outbreak led the Red Sox to a reunion with shortstop José Iglesias Monday.
The free agent was signed to a major league contract and added to the roster before the Sox played the Tampa Bay Rays.
Iglesias was 1 for 1 with an RBI and played three innings defensively in an 11-10, 10-inning loss.
Iglesias, 31, was released by the Los Angeles Angels Friday. The Sox are responsible for the prorated minimum of his $3.5 million contract, roughly $81,000. Related: Red Sox blow a big lead and suffer one of their worst losses of the season
“He’s very happy to be here,” manager Alex Cora said. “He’s been a consistent player … I think he’s going to help us.”
The Sox first acquired Iglesias in 2009 after he defected from Cuba. He reached the majors in 2011, then was traded to the Tigers in 2013 as part of a three-team deal with the White Sox that sent Jake Peavy to Boston to bolster the rotation of what proved to be a World Series champion.
Iglesias was with the Tigers through 2018. He has since played for the Reds, Orioles, and Angels. He is a career .276 hitter and despite a reputation for defensive wizardry, he has never won a Gold Glove.
Iglesias hit .259 for the Angels with a .670 OPS in 114 games. He also had an uncharacteristic 16 errors. But with Christian Arroyo, Xander Bogaerts, Kiké Hernández, and Yairo Muñoz on the COVID-19 list, the Sox were desperate for infield help.
Hernández could return as soon as Tuesday. Flurry of moves
Cora said the roster had “a lot of moving parts” before the game. He wasn’t kidding.
Lefthanded reliever Josh Taylor was activated off the COVID-19 injured list after a six-day stint. He faced three batters in the seventh inning and allowed an unearned run.
The Red Sox also called up righthanded reliever Michael Feliz from Triple A Worcester. He was signed to a minor league contract Aug. 28 after being released by the Reds.
Feliz, 28, started the season with the Pirates and was claimed off waivers by the Reds in May. He had an 8.79 earned run average and 1.81 WHIP in 16 appearances for the Pirates and Reds.
Feliz has pitched well in Triple A this season, allowing three earned runs over 15⅔ innings with Louisville and Worcester while striking out 19.
The Sox returned righthanders Kutter Crawford and John Schreiber to Worcester along with infielder Jack López.
Crawford and Schreiber each appeared in one game, on Sunday. Crawford started and allowed five runs over two innings. Schreiber relieved him and gave up one run over three innings.
Lopez was 2 for 12 in five games at second base. Honor for Casas
Double A Portland first baseman Triston Casas was named the Northeast League Player of the Week.
The 21-year-old was 8 for 17 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in five games. The five homers came over two days and three games against New Hampshire. Related: Triston Casas cracks five homers in two nights in sensational run for Double-A Portland
Casas has hit .283 with 12 homers, 48 RBIs, and an .869 OPS in 69 games for the Sea Dogs. Umpire leaves game
Home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez left the game in the top of the first inning when a foul tip off the bat of Jordan Luplow caught him flush on the mask in the forehead area. Gonzalez was staggered by the blow and was held up by catcher Christian Vazquez. Athletic trainers from both teams helped attend to him. The game was delayed for nine minutes while Laz Diaz suited up to work the plate. The game continued with four umpires as John Libka, who was scheduled to work Tuesday’s game, was available. An MLB spokesman said Gonzalez was being evaluated for a concussion … Wildly talented Tampa Bay rookie Wander Franco extended his streak of reaching base to 36 games with a triple in the first inning. That matched Mickey Mantle for the second-longest streak by a player 20 or younger. Frank Robinson reached in 43 straight as a 20-year-old in 1956. Franco was 4 for 6 and scored three runs. He is 19 of 54 (.352) with nine extra-base hits and 16 RBIs in 15 games against the Sox this season … The NCAA champion UMass men’s hockey team was honored on the field before the game. Team captain Bobby Trivigno threw out a first pitch … Fittingly on Labor Day, United States Secretary of Labor (and former Boston mayor) Marty Walsh also threw out a first pitch … There was a moment of silence before the game in memory of John A. Kaneb, who died Aug. 29. He was chairman of the board of directors and CEO of HP Hood and a limited partner with the Red Sox.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 2:55:49 GMT -5
While Red Sox roster remains a shapeshifter, team holds on to postseason spot By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated September 6, 2021, 8:30 p.m.
The baseball season has moved beyond the realm of the rational into games that inspire ecstasy, madness, and agony — sometimes all at once.
Welcome to September contention in the middle of a pandemic, a phenomenon both mesmerizing and bewildering. With a roster that is reshaped into semi-recognizable form every day by players being added to and returning from the COVID-19-related injured list, the Red Sox are defying logic by maintaining their hold on a postseason spot yet confounding with their inability to secure it decisively.
Monday against the Rays, the Red Sox absorbed an unthinkable loss. Armed with a 7-1 lead through three innings and with Chris Sale on the mound, the Sox endured an excruciating implosion in slow motion, falling to the Rays by an 11-10 count in a 10-inning Fenway affair that lasted 4 hours and 54 minutes.
“Days like this hurt,” said Sale. “It’s a gut punch. We lost a game we should have won — easily, honestly. I mean, we had a 7-1 lead. We’ve got to have that one.”
For all of their recent bullpen troubles — and with a reliever corps left short by the COVID-19-related absences of Matt Barnes and Hirokazu Sawamura — the Sox still had not blown a lead of more than five runs this year. While the Rays have shown an unmatched ability to come back this year, winning a major league-high 43 games in which they trailed at some point, they had not overcome a deficit of more than five runs in their first 137 contests.
And then, Monday happened. The Red Sox fumbled their largest lead of the season with the familiar culprit of faulty defense playing a key role in the meltdown.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fourth, Alex Verdugo lost a bases-loaded flyball by Nelson Cruz in the sun and had it clank off his glove for a three-base error.
His misplay was compounded when the relay throw by second baseman Taylor Motter (a new addition to the Red Sox on Friday) sailed into the Rays dugout. Cruz, who should have been cut down easily at third, scored. The four-run play — which accounted for two of the four Red Sox errors on Monday — brought the Rays back to within 7-5.
Later, with the Sox still clinging to a 9-8 lead in the top of the ninth, Austin Meadows smashed a ball to straightaway center. Verdugo tried to make a play on it, but it eluded his leap and caromed off the fence and back toward the infield.
Rightfielder Hunter Renfroe — who said he lost the flight of the ball in the sun (“The big ball of fire in the sky is undefeated,” he lamented) — was late to back up, and so shortstop José Iglesias ran to center and threw wildly back to the infield in an attempt to stop Meadows from circling the bases. It was unsuccessful, and the game-tying inside-the-park homer extended the game for the Rays to claim the win in extras.
Step back: Verdugo in center? Motter at second? Iglesias at short? Jonathan Araúz at short or second? Franchy Cordero back in the big leagues and looking lost at first base while sprawling in an attempt to field a hard grounder in the 10th?
The COVID-ravaged Red Sox are being reshaped by the day, by the hour. When manager Alex Cora opened his media session on Monday morning, he offered a warning about a coming roster reset.
“We’ve got a lot of moving parts right now,” he said. “It’s kind of, I don’t want to say an uncomfortable morning, but it’s one of those that we are on our toes.”
Shortly thereafter, the Red Sox finalized the signing of Iglesias, reinstated lefthanded reliever Josh Taylor from the COVID-19-related injured list, and added righthander Michael Feliz to the roster while sending pitchers Kutter Crawford and John Schreiber as well as infielder Jack López to Triple-A Worcester.
The flurry of moves has become a staple of life while managing an outbreak that thus far has resulted in 11 Red Sox players landing on the COVID IL. That number dropped to 10 with the return of Taylor on Monday, and the Sox expect Kiké Hernández and Danny Santana to rejoin them on Tuesday.
The result of the absences — including Hernández, the team’s best centerfielder, as well as four middle infielders (Xander Bogaerts, Hernández, Christian Arroyo, Yairo Muñoz) — has been players who are unfamiliar with each other and out of their ideal positions.
It’s impossible to say what might have happened with Hernández in center on Monday or with someone other than Motter at second. But the Sox, who briefly enjoyed a return to up-the-middle defensive stability during last week’s four-game winning streak, looked on Sunday like a jumble of incongruous parts.
“It’s hard but this is who we are,” said Cora. “It’s going to get to the point where we get everybody back and that’s important. … But in the end we have no excuses. We had the lead, 7-1, and we weren’t able to win the game. We can talk about people playing out of position or needing people here, it doesn’t matter. You have to win those games.”
They didn’t, and so the Red Sox squandered an opportunity to surpass the Yankees for the top wild card spot and to maintain or add to the separation they’ve forged with Toronto, Seattle, and Oakland. The postseason landscape feels more crowded and unsettled by the day.
Yet for all of the weightiness of Monday’s defeat, there is still the bigger picture. The Red Sox, with 22 games left, still sit in a position that the Jays, Mariners, and A’s envy. For all of their self-sabotage, they still had repeated opportunities to win on Monday. The game ended with a bases-loaded groundout with the tying run on third.
“We were still gritty,” said Sale. “We showed some fight.”
Rose-colored glasses? Perhaps. Or maybe it was just the view through the pre-autumnal hue of September, on a day when a cloudless sky offered a reminder of the chaos borne of a marathon season distilled to the uncertainties of a dwindling number of games.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 2:56:33 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 3:00:57 GMT -5
Red Sox are headed to a one-game playoff, but with that defense, how do you like their chances? By Dan Shaughnessy Globe Columnist,Updated September 6, 2021, 7:49 p.m.
They look great waving to teammates in the dugout after reaching base. They take care of each other with the laundry cart ride after every home run.
Now if they could only back up one another when the baseball rattles away from their center fielder. If they could only hit the cutoff man when showing off their cannon from right field. If they could only move the runners over with a routine sac bunt. If they could only handle the baseball like big leaguers. If they could only maintain a full roster of healthy players.
The iron-mitted, COVID-ravaged Red Sox are most likely bound for the one-game playoff, probably with the Yankees on Tuesday, Oct. 5. I haven’t been this sure about anything since announcing that Cam Newton was starting quarterback of the Patriots. The Sox are 79-61 with 22 to play and went into Monday evening with a 2½-game lead for the final wild-card spot. Get 108 StitchesGet everything baseball from the Globe's Red Sox reporters every Monday-Friday during baseball season, and weekly in the off season.
But how do you like their chances in October? These Sox are the worst defensive team among contenders and there are days when Chaim Bloom pays for shopping on Freecycle despite working for one of the wealthiest teams in baseball.
Monday was one of those days. The Sox had a 7-1 lead with Chris Sale on the mound, but managed to lose a 10-inning, clown car contest, 11-10. The Local Nine committed four errors in a four-hour-54-minute Labor Day matinee (appropriate holiday for this slog) that featured 33 hits and 24 runners left on base.
“Obviously an ugly loss in the grand scheme of things,’’ said Sale. “We should have won easily, honestly. But we’re still a gritty team.’’ Chris Sale reacts moments after teammate Alex Vedugo misplayed a routine fly ball from Nelson Cruz that allowed four runs to score for Tampa Monday afternoon at Fenway.
It’s all about the one-game playoff now. The Sox singular goal should be to have a rested Sale on the mound for a potential one-gamer against the Yankees. Sale vs. Gerrit Cole. That’s even better than Mike Torrez vs. Ron Guidry in the one-game bakeoff at Fenway on Oct. 2, 1978.
Catching the Rays appears out of the question for both Boston and New York. The Yankees can’t even beat the Orioles and the Sox have been hit hard by COVID. The Sox have had 11 players and three coaches land on the COVID-related list since Aug. 27.
Roster depletion and horrible fundamentals caught up with them Monday. J.D. Martinez and Hunter Renfroe failed to back up Alex Verdugo when Verdugo lost a long fly off the wall in center (shortstop José Iglesias had to scramble to deep center to help Verdugo). Renfroe overthrew the cutoff man. Christian Vázquez popped up a sac bunt and the Sox couldn’t score despite having runners on first and second with no outs in the ninth.
Through it all, they insist that they love each other and that the mood is great in the clubhouse. Good for them. I know I’d be a tad disappointed if Team Globe had anti-vaxxers putting personal liberty ahead of the greater good, making our mission extra difficult. Maybe I’m being unreasonable, but “Win one despite our COVID outbreak!” hardly seems like a rallying cry commensurate with Teddy Roosevelt imploring his volunteer regiment to storm San Juan Hill in 1898.
Josh Taylor came back Monday and Kiké Hernández might be ready for the second game of the Rays series Tuesday. All-Stars Xander Bogaerts and Matt Barnes hopefully will be back soon.
But that’s not going to fix the defense.
A crucial moment in Monday’s loss came when Verdugo succumbed to the sun on Nelson Cruz’s deep fly to center with the bases loaded in the fourth. It clanged off Verdugo’s glove, was first ruled a triple, but eventually changed to an error. It ended up being a Little League grand slam for Cruz. It was a pivotal moment in the game, but it was not the reason the Red Sox lost.
It’s not about a ball in the sun at an unfortunate moment. It’s about stuff that should have been mastered in spring training. It’s about no continuity on a defenseless roster rocked by COVID.
“We’ve definitely been inconsistent the whole season,” admitted Cora. “We have no excuses. We had the lead, 7-1 and we weren’t able to win the game . . . This was a great, bad game.’’
It was indeed exciting. Most Sox games are a thrill ride. But this one was much more bad than great.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 3:03:33 GMT -5
Julian McWilliams @byjulianmack · 10h When my grandkids are born in about two hours I’m gonna tell them Chris Sale started this game.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 3:05:48 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 3h ESPN just showed a full-field shot of Meadows’ inside-the-park HR. Martinez didn’t take a step until after the ball hit the wall. Renfroe was jogging then sped up. Especially at Fenway, the OF has to work together given the bounces and angles.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 3:10:15 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 9h Cora: ‘It was a great bad game…You can’t give a big league team more than 27 outs…We didn’t make plays and that cost us.’
Cora on defense: ‘We’ve been inconsistent the whole season.’
Cora: ‘We have no excuses… We have to win that game.’
Cora: Kiké Hernández and Danny Santana expected to return to the Sox tomorrow.
Sale on need for team to buckle down on fundamentals: ‘Those are obvious keys to success, doing the little things right. … Days like this hurt. There’s no getting around it. It’s a gut punch. … On the flip side, we showed some fight.’
Sale: Losing games the way we lost this one isn’t fun. But this is sports. … That’s why we play games, because crazy stuff like this can happen. … We’ve got to learn from our mistakes, show up tomorrow, and correct them.
Renfroe: ‘That big ball of fire in the sky is undefeated. You can’t fight it and win.’
Renfroe, on the inside-the-park HR, says he got a late break after initially losing the ball in the sun.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 3:12:24 GMT -5
Red Sox’ dreadful defense continues in brutal loss to Rays: ‘It’s a gut-punch’ Sox cough up 7-1 lead in 11-10 loss
By Steve Hewitt | stephen.hewitt@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: September 6, 2021 at 6:48 p.m. | UPDATED: September 6, 2021 at 7:57 p.m.
Since he returned as manager, Alex Cora has known his Red Sox needed to improve defensively. A season watching from home made it a priority going into spring training.
“We have to be better defensively,” Cora said in February. “That’s the bottom line.”
Yet with the season almost over, the Red Sox remain a bad defensive club. And now it’s costing them critical games in September.
In perhaps their worst defensive showing of the season, a series of poorly timed mistakes led to one of the most deflating defeats of the year. Once leading comfortably on Monday afternoon, the Red Sox’ sloppiness reared its ugly head once again in a wild 11-10 loss in 10 innings to the first-place Rays, as the Sox missed an opportunity to pull ahead of the Yankees for the first wild-card spot.
“Days like this hurt,” Chris Sale said. “There’s no getting around it. You know, it’s a gut-punch. We lost a game we should have won easily, honestly. I mean, we had a 7-1 lead. We’ve got to have that one.”
The Red Sox committed four more errors on the day as they allowed the relentless Rays to storm back as they tied it in the ninth on Austin Meadows’ stunning inside-the-park homer before taking it in extras. Even a depleted Red Sox roster ravaged by a COVID-19 outbreak couldn’t excuse this one.
“It’s hard but this is who we are,” Cora said. “It’s going to get to the point where we get everybody back and that’s important. They grinded. They did a good job. … But in the end, we have no excuses. We had the lead, 7-1, and we weren’t able to win the game. We can talk about people playing out of position or needing people here. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. You have to win those games.”
The Red Sox held the six-run lead with their ace on the mound when it all went wrong starting in the fourth. Sale was one strike away from escaping a second bases-loaded jam when Nelson Cruz lifted a deep fly ball to center. But Alex Verdugo never looked sure of it and ultimately lost his battle against the sun. The ball dropped, and all four runners scored as second baseman Taylor Motter’s relay throw to third — where he should have cut down Cruz easily — sailed over Rafael Devers and out of play.
In an instant, the Red Sox’ 7-1 lead became 7-5.
“I’ve told y’all before, the big ball of fire in the sky is undefeated,” right fielder Hunter Renfroe said. “You can’t fight it and win. It happened to Dugie there.”
Despite a productive day at the plate, Motter made another costly miscue in the seventh as the Rays mounted their comeback. Mike Zunino hit a leadoff single to left and tried advancing to second. J.D. Martinez’s throw was there in time, but Motter dropped the ball.
Zunino ultimately scored to make it a one-run game. Jonathan Arauz restored a two-run lead for the Sox with a homer, but Nelson Cruz responded with a solo shot off Adam Ottavino to make it 9-8. Then, the Red Sox finally gave away their lead with a maddening sequence in the ninth.
With one out, Austin Meadows took Garrett Whitlock to deep center, where Verdugo attempted to make a play at the wall. But he missed the ball on his leap, it bounced off the wall and rolled toward second base. No one was there to back him up, and instead of Renfroe or J.D. Martinez, it was shortstop Jose Iglesias retrieving the ball in center.
By the time he got to the ball and relayed it in, it was too late. Meadows scored on a gutting, game-tying inside-the-park homer.
“The corner outfielders, they have got to go there,” Cora said. “Iggy went out there because of his instincts, but balls to center field, everybody has to crash there and they didn’t.”
Renfroe said he ran over to the right of Verdugo in case the ball bounced there, but wasn’t sure if there’s anything else he could have done.
“I don’t know too much we could’ve done more except for me busting my tail as fast as I possibly can behind him,” Renfroe said. “But I usually go to the right side of him just in case the ball skirts to the right. That’s all we could’ve done, I guess.”
The Red Sox did not recover, despite their chances. They had runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but came up empty. And after the Rays scored twice in the 10th off of Whitlock, the Red Sox couldn’t come back. Iglesias drove in Arauz to make it 11-10, but after loading the bases with two outs on Devers’ walk, Kevin Plawecki grounded out to cap a devastating defeat.
Once again, their defense was to blame.
“I think we have been inconsistent the whole season,” Cora said. “We know that. When we’re catching the ball we win games. When we’re inconsistent, it’s tough. It’s for the reason I just told you. It doesn’t matter who you are. The Rays, or whoever is in last place. At the big league level, 27 outs are 27 outs. We have to value those. But if you give the opposition more than that, they are going to make you pay. The whole day today, they made us pay.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 7, 2021 3:31:43 GMT -5
Rays @ Red Sox Tuesday, 7th September 2021 7pm @ Fenway Park
Rasmussen 1-1/3.38
Drew Rasmussen pitched four innings and allowed one run Wednesday against the Red Sox. He struck out five. The Red Sox at least succeeded in making Rasmussen work. He needed 72 pitches to get through four, and considering that his previous season high was 58 pitches, there was no way he was coming back out for the fifth after that.
E-rod 11-7/4.88
Eduardo Rodriguez hurled six scoreless innings on Thursday in a win over the Rays. Rodriguez allowed only five baserunners and notched six strikeouts in one of his better performances of the second half. He was pulled after allowing two consecutive batters to reach safely to open the seventh inning. The 28-year-old southpaw will carry an underwhelming 4.88 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 156/39 K/BB ratio across 132 2/3 innings (26 starts)
Wander Franco leads surging Rays against Red Sox According to STATS
Wander Franco's impact for the Tampa Bay Rays has been as advertised, but even his exploits were overshadowed by his club's 11-10 comeback win in 10 innings over the host Boston Red Sox on Monday.
Franco and his teammates -- winners of 10 of 17 over Boston -- will try to capture the three-game series with another win Tuesday in the second contest.
It was a Monday to remember for the American League East-leading Rays (87-51), who overcame a 7-1 deficit after two innings against Chris Sale to claim their majors-leading 43rd come-from-behind win.
Prior to the comeback, the Rays were 0-69 all-time when trailing Boston by six or more runs.
Franco, 20, tripled in the first inning and posted the first four-hit game (4-for-6, three runs) of his career.
He also went shoulder-to-shoulder with a Hall of Famer in the process.
The shortstop tied Mickey Mantle (1951-52) for the second-longest on-base streak in baseball history by a player under 21, extending his run to 36 games. Hall of Famer Frank Robinson reached base safely in 43 straight as a 20-year-old in 1956.
During his streak, Franco, a switch hitter, is batting .336 (48-for-143) with 36 runs and 26 RBIs.
"I continue to say it, he's really talented, really special and helps us in so many ways," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
But Franco's exploits were an afterthought following the Rays' longest game of 2021 -- 4 hours, 54 minutes -- in a Labor Day affair that seemed to have something for everyone.
Austin Meadows completed the comeback in the ninth with an inside-the-park home run -- the club's third this season.
Nelson Cruz hit an eighth-inning solo homer and gave the team its first lead with his third RBI in the 10th.
In their past 15 games, the Rays have been victorious 12 times, have five comeback wins, are averaging 6.5 runs per contest and are batting .309 with runners in scoring position.
Most important -- and improbably after the first two frames Monday -- they increased their lead over the second-place New York Yankees to 8 1/2 games in the division.
Tampa Bay's Drew Rasmussen (1-1, 3.38 ERA) goes to the hill Tuesday and will face the Red Sox for the fifth time ever and third as a starter. He has no record and a 2.53 ERA against them.
With all that Boston (79-61) has been through the past 10 games or so, manager Alex Cora has a clear message to his club in the final push of the season.
Just keep winning more than it loses.
With Nick Pivetta and Danny Santana added to the COVID-19 injury list, the number increased to 11 Boston players sidelined -- five pitchers and six position players.
"It's not about winning 30 games in a row at this point. It's winning series," Cora said Sunday. "If we win series, we'll be there."
His group hasn't lost a series since dropping three games in the Bronx to the New York Yankees in mid-August.
The third-place Red Sox play 10 of their final 22 games at home, but they are just 24-25 since the All-Star break and 36-29 against the division.
Projected starter Eduardo Rodriguez (11-7, 4.88 ERA) was brilliant over six scoreless innings as the Red Sox beat the Rays 4-0 Thursday in Florida.
The Venezuelan pitcher is now 2-3 with a 4.66 ERA in 12 career starts against Tampa Bay.
--Field Level Media
Rays at Red Sox Tuesday, at 7:10 PM EST Clear According to Forecast.io, it's expected to be 72° F with a 0% chance of precipitation and 4 MPH wind blowing out in Boston at 7:10 PM EST. Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com Forecast.io
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