Rays outclass Sox again
Pepper Monster with doubles, HRs
It was just five days ago when Eduardo Rodriguez produced what he described as his best start of the season, spinning six shutout innings against the Rays to complete a satisfying road trip for the COVID-ravaged Red Sox.
The Red Sox were hoping for a similar pick-me-up performance from him Tuesday, a day after a dismal and gut-punching loss to the Rays. But in what’s become the story of his season, it went the other way for the left-hander.
After they blew a big lead in brutal fashion on Monday, the Red Sox didn’t respond and fell even flatter. Rodriguez’s rollercoaster season continued with an ugly performance, and the Rays took an extended batting practice on Tuesday night at Fenway Park, clobbering five home runs en route to handing the Red Sox a 12-7 loss.
“Every loss matters,” said Christian Vazquez. “Every loss hurts. It sucks but we need to come (Wednesday) to the field and win (Wednesday) and get back on track.”
The Red Sox (79-62) let another opportunity slip to move ahead of the struggling Yankees, who lost again. They remain a halfgame back of the Yankees, but just two games up on the surging Blue Jays for the second wild-card spot. With 20 games left, the implications of each loss is only growing on the Red Sox, and they know it.
“This is the time that we really need to step it up as starting pitchers, win every game, because we’re now in the chase to the postseason,” said Rodriguez, who gave up two homers and six runs in 3 2/3 innings on Tuesday night. “It feels really hard to lose the game today, especially a game that I started. So that’s the way I see it. You’ve got to go out there and win every game the rest of the way. It was kind of hard for me today.”
The Rays made the necessary adjustments against Rodriguez after seeing him for the fourth time this season and second in the last week. But the Sox got off to an ugly start due to more underwhelming defense, a day after two errors in the outfield led to their demise.
With Kiké Hernández back from the COVID IL, Alex Verdugo moved to left field but his struggles continued in the second when he misjudged Jordan Luplow’s fly ball at the base of the Monster and it rolled away for a double. Manuel Margot followed with a rocket off the wall for an RBI double before the defense issues carried to right. Two batters later, with two on, Mike Zunino’s fly ball down the right field line escaped Hunter Renfroe’s glove and landed in fair territory, and Renfroe stopped before realizing it. Two runs scored on the triple.
But Rodriguez ultimately couldn’t blame his defense for this one. Trailing just 3-1, he let the game get away in the third. He surrendered a two-strike double to Randy Arozarena before losing a full-count battle to Nelson Cruz, who hammered a cutter for a mammoth 410-foot shot to the triangle.
An inning later, Mike Zunino took him deep to make it 6-1 and Rodriguez’s night was over soon enough after giving up eight hits, most of them hard contact.
“He wasn’t able to put them away,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “They cover the bottom part of the strike zone, they put some good swings on it. … Nelson has a 3-1 changeup, he swings and misses. Actually he dotted that cutter down and away and he covered it. I think that was the whole thing. Two-strike hits, twostrike damage and it happened fast, too.”
Said Rodriguez: “I feel like they were looking for one certain pitch, they got it, and they hit it. That’s the way that it is.”
The Rays weren’t finished as they took a 12-1 lead behind three more homers, including another each from Cruz and Zunino as they became the second visiting duo ever at Fenway to hit two or more homers and produce four or more RBI in one game, joining Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961.
The Red Sox hit three homers, including two by Bobby Dalbec, over the final two innings, but it only delayed the inevitable after another disappointing effort from Rodriguez.
After missing 2020 due to myocarditis, Rodriguez has made almost all of his starts this season and shown flashes of what he had in 2019, but hasn’t been consistent enough. His ERA sits at 5.15, and even though he feels like his stuff has been there, the results haven’t.
“I feel like the first half was kind of that way, all over the place and all that,” Rodriguez said.
“I feel like the second half is getting better every start. I feel like that right now. I feel like today was just one of those days that I was throwing the pitches they were looking for and they hit it. That’s the way I see it.”