Rays rally from 6 runs down, top Red Sox in 10
BOSTON — Down by six runs, facing Red Sox ace Chris Sale and playing at Fenway Park, the Tampa Bay Rays were just getting warmed up.
Add another remarkable win in a charmed season for these resilient Rays.
Austin Meadows hit a tying, inside-the-park home run in the ninth inning, Nelson Cruz had a go-ahead single in the 10th and Tampa Bay rallied past Boston 11-10 on Monday.
“That’s the biggest win of the year, for sure,” Meadows said. “All year we just find a way.”
The team with the best record in the American League — and the highest-scoring club in the majors — posted its MLB-leading 43rd comefrom-behind win. The Rays had been 0-69 all-time when trailing by six or more runs against Boston.
The AL East leaders took advantage of four errors, the biggest when center fielder Alex Verdugo appeared to lose Cruz’s high fly in the sun with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth.
The ball glanced off Verdugo’s glove and Cruz wound up circling the bases on the play, scoring on second baseman Taylor Motter’s wild throw that let Tampa Bay close to 7-5 against Sale.
Cruz also homered and had two RBI singles as the Rays increased their AL East lead to 81/2 games over New York. The Red Sox missed a chance to move ahead of the Yankees for the top AL wild-card spot.
The Red Sox led 9-8 when Meadows opened the ninth by hitting a full-count fastball from Garrett Whitlock (7-3) off the center field wall, just out of the reach of a leaping Verdugo. Boston fumbled the relay, allowing Meadows to beat the throw home.
Cruz singled home the tiebreaking run with one out in the 10th, then scored on a single by Brandon Lowe that right fielder Hunter Renfore threw away for an error. In all, the Rays scored six unearned runs.
Trailing 11-9 in the 10th, Boston got within a run when Jose Iglesias hit an RBI single off Collin McHugh (61). With one out and runners at first and second, J.D. Martinez lined out to right. Rafael Devers drew a walk to load the bases, but pinch-hitter Kevin Plawecki grounded out to end the game.
ASTROS 11, MARINERS 2 Astros rookie Jake Meyers homered and drove in four runs as Houston jumped on Seattle starter Yusei Kikuchi early and sailed to a win over the Mariners.
BLUE JAYS 8, YANKEES 0 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 40th home run, Marcus Semien went deep twice and the Blue Jays beat the Yankees for their fifth consecutive win.
TWINS 5, INDIANS 2 Jorge Polanco homered and doubled three times, leading Minnesota to a victory over Cleveland.
ROYALS 3, ORIOLES 2 Andrew Benintendi (Arkansas Razorbacks) hit a go-ahead single for Kansas City in the eighth inning, then reached above the left-field wall to take away a potential tying home run by Baltimore’s Anthony Santander in the ninth.
RANGERS 4, ANGELS 0 A.J. Alexy allowed 1 hit over 6 innings in his second major-league start, and Jose Trevino drove in two runs as Texas blanked Los Angeles.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
DODGERS 5, CARDINALS 1 Max Scherzer struck out 13 in his hometown and Chris Taylor hit a two-run home run, leading the Dodgers to the win. Scherzer (13-4) permitted 1 unearned run and 6 hits in 8 innings.
GIANTS 10, ROCKIES 5 Thairo Estrada hit two of San Francisco’s four home runs, and Kevin Gausman pitched seven solid innings. PHILLIES 12, BREWERS 0 Bryce Harper hit an early home run, Brad Miller connected twice and Jean Segura added a grand slam, leading Philadelphia over Milwaukee.
CUBS 4, REDS 3 Frank Schwindel hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning, and the Cubs earned their season-high seventh consecutive win by beating Cincinnati.
NATIONALS 4, METS 3 Carter Kieboom and Andrew Stevenson hit RBI singles in the ninth inning off Edwin Diaz, and Washington rallied in the finale of a five-game series vs. New York.
INTERLEAGUE
PIRATES 6, TIGERS 3 Ke’Bryan Hayes and Yoshi Tsutsugo each hit a two-run single during Pittsburgh’s four-run seventh inning against Detroit, and the Pirates stopped their six-game losing streak.