Rays win second straight against Boston
In the race for second place in the AL East division, it’s the Tampa Bay Devil Rays who are surging and the Boston Red Sox who are faltering as the Rays beat the Red Sox 3-2 on Tuesday at home.
Jeff Niemann pitched a strong game for the Devil Rays, allowing not a single earned run over six innings and just one run overall, and managing to strike out five Red Sox along the way. The win for the six-foot-nine Niemann is encouraging because he’d been on a four-game win-less streak, with two losses and two no decisions in the process after beginning the season 6-0. Niemann wasn’t able to throw for more than six though because he threw 107 pitches to get his 18 outs.
For his counterpart, Felix Doubront, his performance wasn’t quite as good. Doubront let in two runs over the course of just under six innings and had some control issues, walking four batters compared to only three strikeouts.
Tampa Bay opened the scoring in the bottom of the third as John Jaso was singled home. J.D Drew scored in the top of the fourth after reaching first on an error to even the game. Sean Rodriguez helped his team take the lead as John Jaso grounded out. Finally in the eighth innings the Devil Rays managed to pull away a bit with the only home run of the game, giving them a 3-1 lead, which they never fully relinquished, despite conceding a run in the ninth. Rafael Soriano earned his 23rd save of the year.
Solid pitching from both sides
Both sides benefited from good starts, and both sides relied on their bullpens to keep the game close.
"There were some tough innings," Niemann said. "I walked a few guys in one innings and gave up a few hits in another one. Sometimes you just have to grind those out and keep making your pitches."
On the other hand, Doubront’s allowing two earned runs did give his team a shot to win it. The youngster got just his second decision in the major leagues, and it was his first ever loss. Red Sox manager Terry Francona praised his play after the game.
"He pitched behind in the count, saying that, I don't think the atmosphere, I don't the game speeds up on him," said Francona. "I think there's a lot to like about this kid."
The Devil Rays pitched very conservatively as well. After slugger Kevin Youkilis hurt himself, Niuman Romero had to step up to fill his role, but without the threat of a heavy bat following David Ortiz, the Rays chose to repeatedly walk Ortiz, turning the trick four times. It worked in the ninth, as they walked him intentionally and Romero grounded out for the last out.
“That was a fortuitous moment for us,” said Maddon. “That was very unfortunate for them,” Maddon added. “But once that occurred, I said: ‘Ortiz is done.”’
Ortiz was stoic after the game. “It’s part of the game,” said Ortiz, who has been walked intentionally four times in the first two games of this three-game series. “You have to do what you have to do to win.”
Important win
With the past two wins, the Devil Rays have now leapfrogged over the Boston Red Sox in the hunt for the lead in the AL East or the wildcard, as Boston now finds themselves in an unfamiliar third in the very tough division. Boston sits 3.5 games back of the Yankees for top spot, and the Devil Rays now sit just two games above. With the top spot likely to be occupied by the Yanks, both of these teams can’t make the play-offs, making the Devil Rays’ two consecutive wins all the more important.
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