Red Sox 3, Rays 2: Catchy titles are for winners

hey check it out y'all a double rainbow!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A double rainbow over Fenway has to be a good sign. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23RedSox&amp;src=hash">#RedSox</a> <a href="http://t.co/uHaxss5Y4A">pic.twitter.com/uHaxss5Y4A</a></p>&mdash; Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) <a href="https://twitter.com/RedSox/statuses/472502329393283072">May 30, 2014</a></blockquote>

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well if that isn't a beautiful omen of friendship i don't know wh-

oh

Innings 1-3

David DeJesus started the game off well for the Rays, with a double that landed him on third base thanks to a Sizemore miscue in right field. Zobrist grounded out to bring him in to score, and Brandon Workman had already thrown 28 pitches in just one inning.

In the bottom of the 1st, well...

Farrell was ejected. Price had an...eventful inning, but after walking Pedroia and hitting Ortiz he got Gomes to strike out swinging.

Nothing much happened for the next two innings. Myers managed to steal both second and third but he was left stranded when Jose Molina grounded out. Both Price and Workman seemed to find a groove, at least for a while. I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, and Drew's article definitely brought up this point, but man oh man Jose Molina is pretty good at framing, and you can only really appreciate it when you watch A.J. Pierzynski make an attempt at it.

Both of these were strikes that were Pierzynskified. He is the anti-Molina, in more ways than one, but especially this one.

Innings 4-6

Did you think that would be the last we'd see of the hit-by-pitches? If you thought that you were wrong. Why would you think that? Did you even watch the game? Well then I envy you.

In the bottom of the 4th, with two outs and a runner on second, Price hit Mike Carp with his first pitch. The benches cleared, and who do we see in the middle of it but our boy Molina.

If you don't remember he was wedged in the middle of the scuffle not five days ago in St. Pete.

That blur in the middle is Molina. Both sides had already been warned, but, the umps did not eject Price. This didn't sit kindly with the Red Sox bench coach, who was serving as the interim manager, and he was promptly ejected. So if you're keeping score, that's 2 Red Sox hit batsmen, 2 Red Sox managers ejected. With the home crowd worked up into an absolute frenzy, Price got Sizemore to ground out to second. Check out Mike Carp's slide into second base:

Replays showed he angled his body, cleats up, well wide of second. Clear and convincing evidence. You read what you want out of that, but it's there, and it happened. Whatever.

In the top of the 5th, Yunel Escobar hit a double to the wall in left, and was sacrificed to third on a surprisingly good bunt by Jose Molina. DeJesus singled to drive Escobar in, and at this point in the game I was feeling pretty good about the outcome of the game, so I take full responsibility for the three unanswered runs the Red Sox would soon score. But for now, Rays up 2-0.

In the bottom of the inning, the Sox chipped away. Three straight singles by the meat of the order cut the Rays' lead in half. Brian Anderson noticed that, as Price had clearly been missing inside all night, and how warnings had been given, he had felt no confidence to throw in to Red Sox batters. Although he had Ortiz down 0-2, he was unable to establish the inside part of the plate, and threw Ortiz yet another fastball that stayed up and out over the plate. You don't throw the same pitch to David Ortiz three times and expect to get away with it.

Top of the 6th, with rain pouring down, this happens:

I feel bad for Workman, really. After a terrible first inning he pretty much settled down and was pitching a lot better, and one pitch slips away from him and he's gone. There's absolutely no way that this was intentional, and Longoria knows it. Take a look at the GIF above again. He's clearly saying "I don't have a problem with it," Pierzynski nods his head, and it's over. You read what you want out of that, but it's there, and it happened. Whatever.

Innings 7-9

In the bottom of the 7th the Red Sox strike back. Runner on first base. Xander Bogaerts hits a towering fly ball that probably would have been a home run in most other parks, but it bounces off the Green Monster, scoring Jackie Bradley Jr. Although the Red Sox get Bogaerts to third, Ortiz flies out harmlessly to center. Tied 2-2.

Junichi Tazawa, Jake McGee, and Koji Uehara are gods among men, and don't you forget it. Joel Peralta, not so much. Peralta comes in in the 9th and strikes out the first two batters but gives up a walk and a single to put runners on the corners. Fangraphs had this moment as the highest leverage moment in the whole ball game, but Peralta didn't blow it, getting Dustin Pedroia to ground out rather sharply to third. I think that Peralta learned something from Tazawa and Uehara after the benches cleared in the forth inning.

"Boy I sure am glad we are friends. Aren't we good friends Koji? And good friends share pitches with each other. Look, this is how I throw my fastball. Pretty standard, nothing special. How do you throw your splitter? Hurry now, before we part ways, never to speak again."

I wonder if relievers sneak out of the bullpens behind the outfield and play Sorry or Operation with each other in the cavernous walkways of Fenway Park. Maybe that would explain this camaraderie these three guys seem to have.

Extra Baseball

Wil Myers led off the inning with a walk but that would basically be it for the Rays. Yunel Escobar grounded into a fielder's choice but while he was safe at second, it looked like he hurt himself either running or stepping on the bag. Amid a chorus of Beaneater boos he left the game, limping along on one foot. Ali Solis, the AAA call-up to replace Hanigan, pinch ran for Escobar but didn't really get the chance to do anything, and the inning would end not long after.

In the bottom of the inning, Juan Carlos Oviedo was called to pitch and got Ortiz to ground out on one pitch. Then this happened:

Hey look, another HBP because well why not it's been that kind of night. Gomes stared down Oviedo as he took first, as he had every right to do, because fastballs are fast and they hurt. But hey, check out Oviedo's reaction:

"That's my bad, my bad."

Watch this GIF for a while, and then look at Carp's slide into second. How he led with his cleats up. Go look at the Longoria GIF again and see how he immediately reacted to the fastball hurtling straight at his head. Note what he says to A.J. Then read this tweet:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Ortiz absolutely crushed Price in the clubhouse. Said he was acting like a little girl. Also called him a little b...h.</p>&mdash; Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) <a href="https://twitter.com/IanMBrowne/statuses/472580365815517184">May 31, 2014</a></blockquote>

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The Rays lost today and currently are 0-4 on this road trip. The Boston Red Sox won their fifth game in a row. You read what you want out of that, but it's all there, and it all happened.

Whatever.

(oh by the way the anti-Molina hit a walk-off triple that Jennings and Myers ran into each other to miss. I'm not gifin' this because I am not a masochist. If you feel like watching A.J. Pierzynski be the hero of the Boston Red Sox on a NESN broadcast, you are a saint with the strongest constitution ever, and you are needed in the Peace Corps to build homes for starving children, God bless you.)