Rays Baseball: Tampa Bay Stymies Red Sox 2-0

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The Tampa Bay Rays split the first two games against the Boston Red Sox and last night was the rubber match. The Rays did something for the fourth time in franchise history when Ryan Pepiot threw an immaculate inning in Wednesday’s game. For those who do not know what that is, it’s when a pitcher throws nine pitches to get three outs. Unfortunately, it was not enough as the Red Sox defeated Tampa 2-1. At this point, both teams are still chasing the final playoff spot. The problem is there are not many games left to catch up. The Red Sox are at .500 and the Rays find themselves four games under .500. The pitching matchup in this one was Brayan Bello for Boston who is 14-8, with a 4.49 ERA, and 149 strikeouts. For Tampa, it was Zack Littell (8-9 record, 3.73 ERA, and 127 strikeouts).

The Boston Red Sox were wearing their all-grey jerseys with navy blue caps. The Tampa Bay Rays were wearing all-white jerseys with navy blue caps. It was a pitcher’s duel as there were not many hits threw the first three innings. The Rays scored first as a couple of singles by Jose Siri and Dylan Carlson got Siri into scoring position. On a sacrifice fly by Brandon Lowe, the Rays got on the board. Just like Wednesday’s game, it was a low-scoring affair. Both teams had only five hits, one by Boston and four by Tampa. In the bottom of the sixth, a great play by Tyler O’Neill occurred when he threw out Jonathan Aranda. Aranda hit the ball over O’Neil’s head but he gathered it and threw him out advancing to second.

It was a great game for pitcher Zack Littell, who held the Red Sox to one hit through seven innings. The Rays increased their lead in the bottom of the seventh as Taylor Walls got a hit and stole second. The Red Sox attempted to pick him off at second and catcher Danny Jensen missed and the ball rolled into center field allowing Walls to advance to third. Dylan Carson was up at bat and hit the ball to the shortstop but it was enough to score Walls. Littell left after seven innings giving up one hit, no walks, and seven strikeouts. Bryan Bello also pitched well going 5 ⅔ innings allowing five hits, one run, two walks, and seven strikeouts. The Rays held a slim 2-0 lead in the final inning.

That is how the game would end at 2-0. The Tampa Bay Rays pitching was outstanding striking out 11. Tampa got its hits as they had seven and scored two runs. This helped the Rays gain a game on the Sox in the Wild Card race in the AL. The two RBIs for Tampa came from Dylan Carlson and Brandon Lowe. Both players were at the top of the order. The Rays will now welcome the Toronto Blue Jays to end their regular season home games. They will see the Red Sox in Boston for three games to end the 2024 season.

How big was this win for the Tampa Bay Rays? Leave a comment below.

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