The Red Sox went 1-2 in Texas, dropping Tuesday and Wednesday before salvaging Thursday’s finale. Not a disaster, but not exactly the momentum you’d want heading into the hardest series left on the schedule. Tropicana Field, the best record in the American League, five straight home wins for Tampa coming in. No easy nights here.
Roman Anthony made sure Friday wasn’t a hard one, at least to start. He led off the game with a solo shot—his fifth of the year—and put the Sox on top before the Rays even came to bat. He came back in the second to single home two more after Boston loaded the bases. Three RBI before the third inning. It’s the kind of night that alllllmost makes you forget his current strikeout rate. Then Jahmai Jones, who apparently hits well regularly now, hit a solo homer of his own in the third to make it 4-1. Seymour was cooked. He didn’t make it out of the fifth.
Ranger did the rest. Five-plus innings against a Rays lineup that had been torching everyone—14 runs against Houston, 10 against the A’s—and he held them to one run, a Caminero ground-out RBI in the first that felt more like a minor inconvenience than a real threat. The Rays walked nine times in this game and went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. They had all the rope they needed and couldn’t do anything with it. I still hate that this is a good thing, but you’ll take it.
The biggest moment came in the sixth. Wyatt Olds came on for Suarez and promptly walked two to help load the bases, then had to get himself out of a jam of his own partial making with Jake Fraley at the plate. He got him. Okay. Breathe.
Greg Weissert handled the seventh and eighth, then Erik Miller came on for the ninth and made it more stressful than it needed to be. What is up with his command lately? We knew this was a fault in San Francisco—that his mechanics can affect his command and make him walk-prone—but this bad? Ouch. He got it done, but still.
Final: 4-1. Sox snap Tampa’s five-game home win streak.
Magic number: 2. Pending what Texas and Toronto do tonight, but the Sox took care of their side of it.
Leadoff homer in the first inning. Two-run single in the second. Three RBI by the third. He came to Tropicana Field and made it easier on the team from pitch one.
One run in five-plus against the AL’s best record, keeping the ball down, getting out of jams, never letting anything snowball. That’s the start this series needed. Ranger has strung together a few good ones lately after an abysmal July and August—just what the doctor ordered this time of year.
Comes into a 4-1 game at Tropicana Field and makes it feel like the whole thing could come apart. Season-high 9 walks issued on the night and Miller added to the chaos. He’s not a closer right now, and that ninth inning showed it.
The Offense After the Third
Four runs in the first three innings and then nothing. Nine hits on the night, 18 combined LOB between the two clubs, and Boston left a chunk of those. They had chances after the third and couldn’t push anything across. The lead held, but you’re not getting away with that every night down the stretch.
Roman Anthony leading off the game with a homer. It gave Suarez a cushion from the very first at-bat and set the tone for everything that followed.
