Boston Red Sox lose to Tampa Bay Rays 3-4 despite Adrian Gonzalez’s heroics – MLB Update
Boston Red Sox were beaten by Tampa Bay Rays 3-4 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday, May 27 in a thrilling finale of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Bobby Valentine’s side had their chances. Adrian Gonzalez displayed some high quality hitting skills and his three run home run in the seventh gave them an excellent chance to win the series but Sean Rodriguez rose to the occasion to continue Rays’ winning streak.
Ben Zobrist looked in great form and he broke the deadlock in the fourth inning, giving the Rays a crucial 1-0 lead. Will Rhymes had an RBI single to left centre in the seventh and Sean Rodriguez scored the second run for Tampa Bay.
Rodriguez hit a match winning home run in the bottom of the ninth and Tamp Bays’ celebrations begun. The players rushed out onto the field to shake hands with Rodriguez as fate denied the Red Sox a memorable series victory.
Boston’s starting pitcher Clay Buchholz, who entered the game with a major league high 7.84 ERA, tossed up seven solid innings, giving up eight hits and two runs with one walk and six strikeouts. However, despite putting up his best performance of the season, he failed to end up on the winning side.
"Nobody likes losing, but you've got to deal with it sometimes," Buchholz said in a post game interview. "It's a tough loss."
"His control has been pinpoint, those pitches were just a little off," Boston manager Bobby Valentine said.
"How about Fernando to have to go out and get Saltalamacchia?" Maddon said with a smile on his face. "Then it was strike, strike, strike. I know he wanted it."
The Rays, once again, showed the depth and quality in their offence and bullpen as they came back from behind to snatch a memorable win.
Throughout this season, Joe Maddon and company have handled their nerves brilliantly and it will be interesting to see if they can take their excellent form in the next month to put themselves in a dominant position before the All Star Break.
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