The Tampa Bay Rays were victorious on Sunday afternoon, shutting out the Boston Red Sox, 2-0. The Rays managed to avoid being swept, following two lackluster performances on Friday and Saturday.
Jalen Beeks made his return to Fenway Park for the first time since being traded at the deadline for Nate Eovaldi. Following 1 2⁄3 scoreless innings from Diego Castillo, who opened the game, Beeks came on in relief and delivered four scoreless innings of his own, surrendering just one hit. Chaz Roe, Jose Alvarado, and Sergio Romo would pitch the final three innings of the game. Romo would get credited with the save, the 100th of his career.
The Rays offense came via solo home runs as Joey Wendle launched his 7th home run of the year to give the Rays an early lead. In the 9th, C.J. Cron blasted his 24th long ball of the season to give the Rays an insurance run.
Tonight, the Rays are back at Tropicana Field and they’ll welcome in the Kansas City Royals. Hunter Wood has been deemed tonight’s opener, and he’ll be opposed by Jorge Lopez.
Rays News
- When the Rays traded Steven Souza to the Arizona Diamondback in February, they became enamored with a catcher in the D-Backs system. The Rays acquired this catcher, Michael Perez, at the trade deadline for Matt Andriese.
- Like everyone — mostly no one — predicted, the Rays are above .500 with just a few weeks left of the regular season. Marc Topkin decided to call out those who tore the Rays a part prior to the season.
- Rays Colored Glasses writes that Kevin Cash is the best Manager in the American League
- While the Rays were in New York, Carlos Gomez got targeted by the tabloids after throwing a ball into the stands with a phone number on it
Around the League
- Alfred Delia aka Big Al became the sensation of the weekend, as the 12 year old Little League star was the talk of the Little League World Series
Who won the weekend?
— Golic and Wingo (@GolicAndWingo) August 20, 2018
Can anyone compete with Big Al? pic.twitter.com/7tPf8FayvS
- Speaking of the Little League World Series, MLB held their first Little League World Series Classic with a game being held at the event between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. It was great, next year, the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates will be part of the festivities.
- Sister Mary Jo Sobieck threw out a first pitch for the Chicago White Sox, dropping in a perfect strike...Carlos Gomez should pay attention to her mechanics
Random Ray of the Day
Tino Martinez
The Tampa native and veteran first baseman came to the Rays in a trade during the 2003-2004 off-season. Martinez was a major league veteran of 14 seasons prior to arriving in Tampa Bay, having won four World Series titles along the way. While with Tampa in 2004, Martinez launched his 300th career home run, hitting .262/.362/.461 with 23 HR over 138 games. He would play one more year in 2005 with the Yankees, before retiring.