33 hits, 21 runs, 14 pitchers, five errors, 10 innings, and five hours is what Monday’s Red Sox-Rays consisted of.
A pair of RBI singles from Nelson Cruz and J.D. Martinez had it knotted up at 1-1 after the first inning, but Boston broke out in the second inning.
A pair of doubles from Taylor Motter and Hunter Renfroe made it 3-1, and a single from Rafael Devers made it 4-1 before Bobby Dalbec slapped a two-run double off the Green Monster. Alex Verdugo plated Devers with a sac fly to put Tampa’s deficit to six.
Chris Sale cruised through the first three innings but ran into some deep trouble in the fourth. Three straight two-out singles loaded the bases for the Rays, although it looked like Sale got out of the jam as Cruz flared a flyball to center. But Verdugo, the center fielder, with the sun in his eyes blatantly dropped it as it allowed four runs to score, including Cruz after a bad throw from Motter, the second baseman, and Boston’s lead was cut to just two.
Sale then served up two more singles, and he was relieved by Garrett Richards as he got out of the inning. Sale ended his day allowing just one earned run but did allow ten hits although he struck out six.
Richards hurled two more solid frames but did let up an RBI single to Jordan Luplow in the sixth to make it a one-run game. The two clubs then went back and forth. Renfroe plated Motter with a very long single off the Monster, but Motter made an error in the seventh as he missed a tag at second base when he dropped the ball. The error allowed Mike Zunino, who luckily got into second base, to be driven in by Randy Arozarena with a single.
Jonathan Arauz would send a solo homer into the right field seats, but Cruz smacked a solo homer of his own over the Monster off Austin Davis to make it a one-run game yet again.
Garrett Whitlock came on for the save, but Austin Meadows led off with an inside-the-park home run to tie the game up at 9-9. It was sent into deep center, and Verdugo misplayed it as it hit off the wall. Neither Martinez (LF) or Renfroe (RF) was there to back him up, and Meadows made his way around to tie it up. Whitlock, however, would set down Tampa 1-2-3 after the inside-the-parker and send it to the bottom of the ninth.
Travis Shaw led off the bottom half of the ninth with a ground-rule double down the left field line, and he was pinch-ran for by Franchy Cordero. Verdugo was intentionally walked to put two on with nobody out.
But Christian Vazquez popped out when trying to bunt, and Arauz sent it to extras with an inning-ending double play.
With one out in the 10th, Cruz lined an RBI single into right and hustled his way into second off Whitlock before Brandon Lowe pinch-hit and made it 11-9 with another RBI single. Stephen Gonsalves relieved Whitlock and retired the side.
To lead off the bottom of the 10th, Iglesias, who was signed today, picked up his first hit with the Red Sox in roughly eight years with an RBI single to cut the deficit to one. Kyle Schwarber struck out, but Renfroe put two on with a rocketship to Joey Wendle at third base, as he bobbled it and Renfroe beat out the throw to first.
Martinez flared a lineout into right, but Rafael Devers walked to load the bases. Kevin Plawecki pinch-hit for Cordero, and he grounded out to end the game.
(Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)