Pedey slams Rays
Clutch blast leads Sox to 10th in row
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Red Sox knew when they arrived in Florida that they wanted to hold the champagne until the AL East was finished.
When last night’s 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays clinched a playoff berth, Sox manager John Farrell seemed unaware.
Mookie Betts left the clubhouse after his team’s 10th straight win in a bucket hat, his dance in center field taking more attention than the standings. (The latest jig paid homage to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for a second straight night, a dance to the Sugarhill Gang’s song “Jump on it.”)
For a team that finished in last place for two straight years, a guaranteed return to the postseason was already assumed, even if no one said so. Now a division title is 90 feet away, and the top record in the AL could be legged out too.
On a stretch like this — the last time the Sox won 10 straight in September was an 11-game run in 1949 — even what the Sox haven’t done well, they’re mastering.
Dustin Pedroia’s two-out, twostrike grand slam in the seventh inning was a go-ahead shot that erupted Tropicana Field like it was Fenway Park.
“I’ve faced (Rays reliever Danny Farquhar) a few times. It’s one of those things where you try to get your hands inside it,” said Pedroia, who went deep with the Sox down 3-2 and put Rick Porcello in line for win No. 22. “That’s how I was lucky enough to hit it. The one stayed kind of middle. I pulled my hands in and hit it on the barrel. That pitch is real tough.”
Six hours before Pedroia’s shot, hitting coach Chili Davis sat on a golf cart outside the Sox clubhouse. He had just been going over video, as he normally does. The batting cage that sits 10 yards from the entrance to the Sox locker room was already going.
“There’s a stat earlier this year, that showed how we were like, the worst in the league or something with the bases loaded situation,” Davis said. “You know, you look at it, and I look at the stat sheet — which I don’t usually do — and we weren’t very good with the bases loaded. And I looked at the opportunities with the bases loaded — and our opportunities were far more than any other team. And you look at runners in scoring position, we’re the best hitting team with runners in scoring position.
“I’m like, if that’s the only negative (with the bags full), we’re creating that opportunity so many times, the pressure on that pitcher is enormous.”
The Sox indeed carried the second worst average with the bases loaded entering last night’s game, at .204. Only the Minnesota Twins, who are in the middle of trying to rearrange their front office, were worse, at .194.
The Sox had more chances with the bases full than all but three teams to start the day, to no avail.
But the idea the offense somehow clammed up with the bases loaded didn’t make sense: They’re handling plenty of pressure situations on offense very well.
Pedroia had cooled off after hitting .450 over 32 games from Aug. 9 to Sept. 13. He came into last night 5-for-41 (.122) in the nine games that followed.
Hanley Ramirez, whose RBI single in the fourth cut the Sox’ deficit to 3-2, picked up Pedroia and spun him around when he returned to the dugout after the granny.
Porcello wasn’t at his best, and was touched up in a three-run third inning that put the Sox down 3-1. But the Cy Young hopeful nonetheless struck out nine in 61⁄ innings.
The Sox bullpen actually allowed a run, just the sixth it was charged this month. Craig Kimbrel gave up a two-out homer in the ninth, but five relievers nonetheless had a great combined night.
Pedroia made a stellar play on defense in the second inning, cutting down Corey Dickerson at the plate on a grounder — even though Pedroia was playing back. Dickerson hesitated, whereas Pedroia had an instant release and point-guard-like awareness.
“I was back. I saw him freeze on it,” Pedroia said. “It’s a risky play, but if you make it, it changes the momentum of the inning. So it worked out for us, we were able to get him.”
The soonest the Sox can clinch the division now is tomorrow — an off day for them — with a magic number of 3. The division is practically a given at this point, but clinching when they’re not at the park would be awkward.
As for home field? A loss by the Cleveland Indians (90-64) last night put the Sox (91-64) in the No. 2 hole, one game off the win-