Chris Sale has almost looked human his last few times out, but he’d go back to being his other worldly self last night as he led the Sox to their 2nd win in a row against the Rays. The Sox offense scored early and often while Sale and the bullpen blanked the Rays.
The Sox once again got scoring early in this game. Pedroia hit a 2 run homer and then Mitch Moreland hit an RBI groundout to have the Sox up 3-0 in the 1st. The Sox kept at it in the 2nd when they scored 5 more times to be up 8-0. Benintendi hit a 2 run RBI double and then Moreland hit a 2 run RBI single to chase Andriese from the game. The Sox got one more run in the inning when Hanley got on by way of an error and Betts came on home to score. Sox 8-0.
The Sox got another run in the 3rd when Benintendi hit an RBI single to score Boagerts. Sox 9-0. At the same time, Chris Sale just kept pitching and keeping the Rays off the board on the other side of the rubber. Sale pitched through 6 innings and blanked the Rays. His pitching line for the night was 97 pitches, 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB and 8 Ks. The Sox bullpen was now in the game and looking to complete the shutout. Carson Smith came out of the pen for the 7th inning. Smith gave up 2 singles to start the inning, but then got the next 3 outs without allowing the Rays to score. Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 8th inning, followed by Blaine Boyer who pitched a scoreless 9th. The Yankees won as well yesterday, so the Sox maintained their 4.5 game lead in the AL East.
Red Sox 9 Rays 0 BOXSCORE
WP: Sale (16-7) LP: Andriese (5-3)
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