MLB

Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays

· Major League Baseball
Boston Red Sox
76-77, 41-37 Away
Final
0 - 2
Tampa Bay Rays
75-78, 39-39 Home

Littell allows 1 hit in 7 innings and Rays beat Red Sox 2-0

Littell (8-9), who made his team-leading 28th start in his first full season as starter, struck out seven and did not issue a walk. After Edwin Uceta pitched a perfect eighth, Garrett Cleavinger worked a 1-2-3 ninth to get his sixth save in seven chances.

“I don’t think we could have predicted the amount of success, the workload,” Cash said of Littell. “Just how much day-in and day-out giving us chances to win.”

Nick Sogard's two-out single in the third was Boston's only hit of the game.

Boston starts a three-game series at Fenway Park against Minnesota on Friday, trailing the Twins and Detroit by four games for the final AL wild card. The Red Sox would also need to jump over Seattle. The Rays are five games out of the third wild-card position.

“Uphill battle, it’s tough,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “Realistically it’s very tough. But we have three games against (the Twins).”

Both the Red Sox and Rays have nine games remaining.

Boston has gone 22-35 since the All-Star break.

The Rays need to go 2-1 or better this weekend against Toronto in their final home series of the season to have an eighth consecutive winning record at home.

“I don’t think there’s anything glaring other than at the end of the day we just have not performed like we’re capable of,” Cash said.

Brandon Lowe drove in a run with a third-inning sacrifice off Brayan Bello (14-8). Bello gave up one run, five hits, two walks and struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings.

Dylan Carlson made it 2-0 on a run-scoring grounder in the seventh.

Boston slugger Rafael Devers went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts. He was hitless in 11 at-bats, including eight strikeouts, in the series.

“Right now, collectively, we’re slumping,” Cora said. “Same thing has been happening for a month and half.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Red Sox: Closer Kenley Jansen, who has had some shoulder-lat issues, threw before the game after getting his 27th save on Wednesday and is fine … RHP Lucas Sims (right lat) was reinstated from the 15-day IL. … RHP Luis García (right elbow inflammation) could be back in the next few days.

Rays: Shane McClanahan (Tommy John surgery) is looking forward to throwing to hitters for the first time next Thursday. “It’s exciting,” McClanahan said, “I miss it. Miss it to death,”

UP NEXT

Red Sox: Face Minnesota RHP David Festa (2-6, 5.07 ERA) on Friday night. Boston has not announced its starter.

Rays: LHP Tyler Alexander (6-5, 5.58 ERA) will start or follow an opener Friday night against Toronto RHP José Berríos (16-9, 3.44 ERA). Berríos is 7-0 with an 1.51 ERA over his last seven starts.

How can I watch Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays?
  • TV Channel: Red Sox at Rays 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Rays: 54.9%
Red Sox: 45.1%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Wong flied out to center.
9th Inning Wong hit for Duran
9th Inning González struck out swinging.
9th Inning González hit for Sogard
9th Inning Refsnyder struck out swinging.
9th Inning Cleavinger relieved Uceta

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/bos.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBOS https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 1
2 Ground Balls 8
11 Strikeouts 10
0 Runs Batted In 2
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
1 Hits 7
0 Stolen Bases 2
0 Walks 2
0 Catcher Interference 0
0 Runs 2
0 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 1
28 At Bats 29
0 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
1 Runners Left On Base 14
0 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 1
0 Intentional Walks 0
0 Doubles 0
15 Fly Balls 12
0 Caught Stealing 0
109 Pitches 130
0 Games Started 0
3 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 1
1 Total Bases 7
28 Plate Appearances 33
0.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
0 Extra Base Hits 0
-2.3 Runs Created 2.8
.036 Batting Average .241
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.036 Slugging Percentage .241
.000 Secondary Average .138
.036 On Base Percentage .303
.071 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .544
0.1 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.7
-2.3 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 3.3
1.0 Batter Rating 17.0
0.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
3.89 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.94
.000 Isolated Power .000
0.00 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.20
.000 Walks Per Plate Appearance .061
-.036 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.103
0.0 Runs Produced 4.0
0.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.0 Patience Ratio 0.3
0.1 Balls In Play Average 0.4
51.5 MLB Rating 70.5
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Tropicana Field

Location: St. Petersburg, Florida
Attendance: 13,120 | Capacity:

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3
Full Standings