The Red Sox had lost 9 straight games coming into the series finale with the Rays. The Sox had rookie Brandon Workman on the mound as he was called up to take Felix Doubront’s spot in the rotation. Mike Napoli was placed on the DL in another move that would hurt the Sox chances of climbing out of the hole they placed themselves in. The game was tight in the early innings, but the Sox bullpen who is usually very consistent let the game slide in Tampa’s direction. At the end of the game the Sox would be sitting at 10 games straight without a win.
Workman got a small lead in the 3rd inning when Jackie Bradley Jr hit a sac fly to score Pierzynski. Sox 1-0. Workman allowed the game to get tied in the 4th inning when Longoria hit a solo HR and then the Rays went ahead when Forsythe hit an RBI single to left. Sox 1-2. The Sox lead didn’t last more than a couple of innings. Workman gave up another run in the 5th inning when Myers hit into an RBI groundout to score DeJesus. Sox 1-3. Workman was done after 5 innings and his outing wasn’t stellar, but he also was able to leave having the Sox withing striking distance.
Alex Wilson took the mound for the first time since his call up from Pawtucket. Wilson pitched a scoreless 6th inning and then the Sox decided to send Jonny Gomes to pinch hit for Bradley Jr in the 7th. That ended up being a good choice as Gomes hit a game tying 2 run HR. Sox 3-3. The Rays had a little pinch hitting magic of their own in the bottom of the inning. Breslow took the mound for the Sox and struggled more than he has ever this season. The Rays sent Rodriguez to pinch hit for Joyce and he hit a 3 run HR to put the Rays up 6-3. Escobar hit a 2 run RBI double to have the Rays up by 5 runs. This is when the drama of the night happened. Escobar stole 3rd base with his team up 5 runs and then the Sox dugout and Escobar started jarring at one another. Escobar seemed to be taunting the Sox dugout to come out on the field and challenge him. Before the Sox dugout had a chance to react, Jonny Gomes came in from left field and defended his teammates. Both benches cleared and when all was said and done, Gomes, Escobar and Rodriguez were ejected. Gomes would say later he didn’t have a problem with Escobar taking the base, but did with him yelling and pointing his finger in to his dugout.
While all that was happening Edward Mujica came in to finish the inning and pitch a scoreless 8th inning. In the top of the 9th inning the Sox were able to get 2 runs when Bogaerts hit a RBI single to score Pierzynski and Holt. The Rays sent their closer Grant Balfour to the mound and the Sox weren’t able to get anything going against him and lost their 10th straight game. The Sox have now been swept for 3 consecutive series and things don’t look like they are getting any easier.
Red Sox 5 Rays 8 BOXSCORE
WP: Peralta (2-3) LP: Breslow (2-1) SV: Balfour (9)
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