Travis Shaw tied a career high with five RBIs and fell a triple shy of the cycle to fuel the Red Sox's 8-2 win over the Rays on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field.
Shaw got the Red Sox's offense started with a leadoff home run off Chris Archer in the second. RBI doubles by David Ortiz in the third and Jackie Bradley Jr. in the fifth pushed the lead to 3-1. They added three more in the seventh on an RBI single by Hanley Ramirezand a two-run double by Shaw for a 6-1 lead. Shaw added a two-run single in the ninth to complete his big night.
The Red Sox had lost six out of eight entering this one.
"We needed it," said Ortiz. "We haven't been able to do much this road trip, but a win is a win."
The Rays' offense hardly resembled the crew that scored 13 runs on 18 hits Monday night.Nick Franklin drew a bases-loaded walk from Red Sox starter Rick Porcello to force home a run in the fourth and Brad Miller hit his 10th home run of the season in the seventh that cut Boston's lead to 6-2.
"I know the game got separated there at the end," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Obviously, it was a closer ballgame. … We didn't get it done when we had an opportunity."
Despite striking out nine, Archer took his Major League-leading 11th loss of the season after allowing four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. Porcello allowed one run on five hits to move to 9-2 on the season.
"He's been everything we could've hoped," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "You look at a starting pitcher that can go out and be consistent every fifth day, he's been a model of that for us."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Escape artist: Porcello, who hadn't walked more than two in a start all season, ended that streak by walking three batters in a 39-pitch fourth inning. The third walk to Franklin forced in a run. But to Porcello's credit, he got through the inning with just one run allowed, striking out Miller looking on a 92-mph two-seamer. Catcher Christian Vazquez pumped his fist emphatically as he ran back to the dugout.
Escape artist: Porcello, who hadn't walked more than two in a start all season, ended that streak by walking three batters in a 39-pitch fourth inning. The third walk to Franklin forced in a run. But to Porcello's credit, he got through the inning with just one run allowed, striking out Miller looking on a 92-mph two-seamer. Catcher Christian Vazquez pumped his fist emphatically as he ran back to the dugout.
"The fourth inning was a grind," said Porcello. "I dug myself a hole and had to find my way out of it, but we were able to survive and guys swung the bats well and we were able to get a win. It was good." More >
Scoreless first: Archer entered the game with a 10.69 ERA in the first inning, having allowed 19 earned runs in 16 innings. He got off to a good start Tuesday night by allowing none, though he did have to escape a mini jam after walking Ortiz with two outs and then allowing a single to Ramirez. Archer recovered to strike out Bradley swinging on a 90-mph slider.
Shaw's moonshot: Getting a day of rest on Monday did Shaw some good. The third baseman's towering homer in the second snapped an 89 at-bat power outage for the left-handed hitter. Shaw's homer was projected by Statcast™ to land 449 feet away and an exit velocity of 107 mph. Ramirez is the only Boston player to hit a longer home run this season.
"It felt good," said Shaw. "A month or I don't know how long it's been, but to not hit any in June, that doesn't really sit well with me. It feels good to get that one." More >
Romero can't hold: Enny Romero relieved Archer with one on and one out in the seventh and was not able to get the job done. Romero, who got hit on his left hand in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Orioles, allowed three runs to score -- though one of the runs was charged to Archer -- on three hits. The score was 3-1 when the Rays took the field to play defense in the seventh and 6-1 when they returned to the dugout to hit. Romero said that the hand felt fine.
QUOTABLE
"Things hadn't been going too well lately. I agreed with the timing of it, especially after last night. The past couple of weeks hadn't been good for us, so it was good to get back on the right track tonight." -- Shaw, on Monday's team meeting and the win on Tuesday
"Things hadn't been going too well lately. I agreed with the timing of it, especially after last night. The past couple of weeks hadn't been good for us, so it was good to get back on the right track tonight." -- Shaw, on Monday's team meeting and the win on Tuesday
"Overall, I pitched somewhat deep in the game. I felt like I left with a chance to win, or at least keep the game close. But there was some minor things I could have done better, and that's just the game sometimes." -- Archer
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Miller's home run made him the first shortstop in Rays history to reach 10 before the All-Star break. Tuesday night's homer broke a tie with Julio Lugo, who hit nine before the All-Star break in 2006.
Miller's home run made him the first shortstop in Rays history to reach 10 before the All-Star break. Tuesday night's homer broke a tie with Julio Lugo, who hit nine before the All-Star break in 2006.
The Red Sox and Indians are the only two teams in the Majors without a losing streak as long as four games this season.
WHAT'S NEXT
Red Sox: Lefty David Price will pitch on the mound he's most familiar with in Wednesday's 12:10 p.m. ET matinee against the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Red Sox: Lefty David Price will pitch on the mound he's most familiar with in Wednesday's 12:10 p.m. ET matinee against the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Rays: Matt Moore (3-5, 5.04 ERA) makes his 16th start of the season and his first against the Red Sox. He is 3-4 with a 5.40 ERA in eight career appearances against Boston.
No comments:
Post a Comment