After nearly a week in Boston, the Tampa Bay Rays departed on Monday evening, finally bringing an end to a frustrating series for the home team.
Baseball’s winningest team arrived last Wednesday evening, enjoyed a day off on Thursday and were rained out on Friday before finally beginning their four-game set against the American League East’s last-place Red Sox.
To paraphrase Bill Hader’s iconic ‘Saturday Night Live’ character Stefon, this series had everything: a heartbreaking injured list stint for Chris Sale (left shoulder inflammation), the club’s first scheduled doubleheader since 1978, a slew of defensive blunders, a surprising roster move, and an ejection.
But most of all, it was a long weekend of countless brutal reminders that whether they scrimp or spend, this team still keeps landing at the bottom of the standings, craning up at the frugal-but-ferocious Florida team.
The Rays were already the only team in baseball with 40 wins when they came to town. They dropped the first game of the series, but took the remaining three. With a 4-1 loss on Monday evening that included a late-inning ejection for Alex Cora, the Red Sox are 30-30 on the season.
It was surprising to see Cora get so worked up when he did. Rafael Devers struck out looking and Alex Verdugo got thrown at at second to end the bottom of the eighth, both accurate calls. But following the game, he explained that his frustration with home-plate umpire Chris Guccione built up over the course of the contest.
“I think he missed one the previous inning that he really missed,” Cora elaborated. “It changed the complexity of the at-bat, the first pitch to Ref (Rob Refsnyder), it was a pitch violation. We’re gonna play this game of the clock, and this stuff, we gotta call it the right way.
“It was a ball. Rule-wise, it was a ball. That’s why I was so upset,” he continued. “And that one is not about judging or strike zone or whatever, it’s the rule. And if the clock is at zero, it’s a ball.”
“My kids are gonna see me get thrown out, make sure they see it the right way,” he added with a rueful smile.
It’s been a stretch of mostly, but not all bad news. After calling out his team and himself for poor defense over the weekend, Cora’s club fared better in that regard on Monday, highlighted by jaw-dropping plays from Verdugo and Kiké Hernández early in the game.
Back on the grass for the day, Hernández reminded fans why the Red Sox originally extended him to play centerfield this season. With a runner on in the top of the second, the utility-man made a stupendous leaping grab to rob Luke Raley of a 2-run homer. He tormented Raley again in the sixth, when he laid out for an impressive catch.
With Trevor Story sidelined since January with internal brace surgery, the Red Sox had to pivot to Hernández as the primary shortstop. Two months into the season, he’s already played more than double his previous innings total at the position, and in 45 games (40 starts) at the position, made a league-leading 13 errors. His minus-9 Outs Above Average ranks second-worst among all qualified fielders in the majors.
Verdugo’s glove-work, on the other hand, has been strong this season; he entered Monday’s game in MLB’s 86th percentile in both OAA and Outfielder Jump, and 95th in arm strength. He continued making the case for his first Gold Glove in the top of the third, when he raced across right field and snatched a home run back from Francisco Mejía at the very inside corner of the Pesky Pole.
Unfortunately, pitching is a team’s first line of defense, and after getting off to a strong start, Brayan Bello unraveled, albeit briefly, in the fifth.
The 23-year-old right-hander began his afternoon with a 1-2-3 first inning, getting the Rays to strike out swinging for each out, all on different pitches. And though he didn’t get another strikeout between the second and fourth innings, he didn’t give the Rays too many chances, either. Through four, the visitors had one walk and one hit, and by the end of the frame, Bello was the first Red Sox starter to make it through four consecutive scoreless innings against the Rays since April 10, when Nick Pivetta shut them out through five in their first meeting of the season.
But when the Rays did finally get to the Red Sox starter, they really got him. They tallied five hits and three runs against him before he finally got out of the fifth with a strikeout. He returned for the sixth, somewhat redeeming his outing with a quick, scoreless inning.
“He induced them to weak contact,” Cora said. “Overall, he threw the ball well, did a good job, a lot of swings-and-misses in the changeup.”
In a frustrating loss, there’s little consolation in knowing that it could’ve been much worse; the Rays were 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and left 10 on base.
The Boston bats had fewer chances, but squandered them all. Rays starter Shane McClanahan issued two walks within the first three batters he faced, only to have Rafael Devers bail him out by hitting into an inning-ending double play.
“We put pressure early on, we didn’t cash in,” the Red Sox skipper assessed frankly. “We haven’t got hits, we put in good at-bats. We walked four times today.
“We didn’t get the big hit, but I think the approach is the right one.”
Lately, “the approach” isn’t yielding the desired results. In 10 of their last 20 games, the Red Sox have scored no more than two runs, so just getting on the board feels like an achievement. They collected six hits and four walks, but went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, leaving six on base. Their only run of the day was Justin Turner’s solo homer into the Green Monster seats, the only home run by either team through the series.
The Red Sox head back out on the road a .500 team once again. In any other division, they’d be in fourth place or better, but here they stand.
“Are we great? No,” Cora said honestly. “Are we bad? No.”
In other words, .500.