It was a fine afternoon for baseball, because the weather is always great when you’ve got a dome. The Rays were looking to sweep their series against the Red Sox, and to get the job done, they had Drew Rasmussen on the mound. He was up against Jake Bennett for the Sox.
Rasmussen got things started by doing what Drew does best, and he got the side out in order. In the bottom of the inning, the Rays did the same, though, so not an ideal way to get things going.
It was another 1-2-3 for the Red Sox in the top of the second, but once again, the Rays also didn’t get a baserunner on.
Caleb Durbin broke the hitting dry spell for the game with a leadoff single in the top of the third. Isiah Kiner-Falefa then grounded into a force out to eliminate Durbin. Once on first, IKF stole second, but he got greedy trying to steal third and was tagged out. The Rays finally managed to get their offense working in the home half with a leadoff double from Nick Fortes. A sac bunt from Cedric Mullins moved Fortes to third, then a sac fly from Taylor Walls brought him home and put the Rays on the board first. Love to see a little small ball action.
The Sox went three-up, three-down in the fourth. Does Drew Rasmussen have somewhere to be? Love the efficiency. In the home half, Junior Caminero singled. One out later, Jonathan Aranda joined him with a single. With two runners on, though, they weren’t able to bring anyone home.
Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch to start the fifth. Then, with one out Masataka Yoshida singled. Rasmussen got himself out of the jam, though, collecting the next two outs of the inning. Nick Fortes decided he was going to have himself a game and opened the home half with another double. Then, with one out, Walls singled to push Fortes to third. A Yandy Diaz single brought him home. Then Austin Slater doubled to score Walls, putting the Rays up 3-0.
They weren’t done quite yet, though. Caminero was intentionally walked, which evidently Ryan Vilade took personally, because he hit a sac fly to score Diaz.
If the Red Sox were hoping for a comeback, they sure didn’t show it, going 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth. That was all she wrote for Bennett, who was replaced by Ryan Watson. Fortes continued to dominate, getting a one-out single in the bottom of the inning. Then, with two outs, Walls singled, bumping Fortes to third. A Yandy Diaz single brought Fortes in to score for the third time in the game. Walls then stole second, and a wild pitch allowed Diaz to advance, but the Rays had to settle for just the one run.
With two outs in the seventh, Mickey Gasper walked, but he was soon walking right back to the dugout as Rasmussen got out of the inning. The Rays didn’t do anything to add to their lead in the bottom of the inning.
Rasmussen was done after seven, with a final line of 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB and an INSANE 13 K on 97 pitches. He was replaced by Cole Sulser, and the first thing Sulser did was give up a solo home run to Durbin. Then Kiner-Falefa walked. After getting an out, Sulser was done, replaced by Steven Matz. Jarren Durran singled, then Ceddanne Rafaela homered, bringing the score to 5-4. With two outs in the inning, Matz was replaced by Casey Legumina, who got the final out. If I was Drew Rasmussen, I’d be pretty annoyed. Justin Slaten was the new pitcher for the Red Sox, and with one out, Fortes singled again. Chandler Simpson came in to run for him, and then Cedric Mullins hit a home run to recover a few of those runs.
Yandy Diaz singled, and the Sox dipped back into their pen for Greg Weissert who got the final out of the inning.
Garrett Cleavinger came on for the Rays in the ninth and with two outs, gave up another home run to Durbin. Those extra runs were certainly looking extra nice right about now. Kiner-Falefa walked after challenging his call, and the took second on defensive indifference. Cleavinger did manage to get the final out and the Rays walked away with both a game and series win.
