Boston Red Sox edge past Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 – MLB news
Boston Red Sox continued their excellent winning streak as they edged past the struggling Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Thursday, May 16 in the finale of their three match series of the 2013 Major League Baseball regular season.
Red Sox showed great fighting skills, mental strength and ability to handle pressure in a game that was played on an extremely competitive note. Red Sox manager John Farrell will be very happy with what he has seen from his men so far this season but it
will be interesting to see if the Red Sox can extend their winning streak for a little longer to grab the first position on the American League East Division standings table before the All Star Break.
Rays pitching rotation looked in hot form, creating all sorts of problems for the Rays’ batting line-up. Starting pitcher Felix Doubront led from the front as he allowed just three hits and two runs while striking out seven batters.
“The approach by everybody in the ninth inning ... we took some close pitches,” Boston manager John Farrell said. “We load the bases via the walk. Even though we're going up against a guy that's got tremendous stuff, there was no give up, there was not letdown.”
“This game is difficult,” said Rays’ closer Fernando Rodney after giving up the tie breaking run. “Sometimes when you think you've got it in your hands, it's gone. That's how I'm feeling tonight. Sometimes you lose control for a little bit, and you can find
your way back to finish that inning.”
Relief pitchers Clayton Mortensen, Andrew Millers, Craig Breslow and Junichi Tazawa combined to give up just one run in four innings of relief as the Red Sox held on to their slim lead to complete a deserving series victory.
Rays will be looking to bring some consistency in their results. After securing a comfortable win in the opener, they had a great chance of claiming another home series win but that did not turn out to be the case. Red Sox came back strongly after the loss
in Game 1 to improve their record to 24-17.
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