The Tampa Bay Rays lost a rare game Friday night, 2-0 to the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park. The Rays had won four in a row, and they had won 13 of 14 games.
The Red Sox cooled all that down in their shutout win. The Rays managed just four hits. The Sox only had four hits, too, but two of them were solo home runs by Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela,
The Rays had a shot to score off Boston starter Connelly Early in the third. Nick Fortes and Taylor Walls singled, and Yandy Diaz was hit by a pitch.
But Early struck out Randy Vilade, and on the first pitch, Junior Caminero hit into a double play. The Rays had only one more hit the rest of the night.
Starter Jesse Scholtens went 4 2/3 innings and allowed two hits and two earned runs in taking the loss.
The Rays will play against Boston again at Fenway today at 4:10 p.m. Nick Martinez will start for the Rays against Payton Tolle.
The Tampa Bay Rays showed a national audience just what they have going on Thursday night.
In an 8-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Rays showed off their stars.
You've heard of Junior Caminero? That was him, launching a 449-foot home run to clinch the victory. Caminero had two hits on the night.
How about Chandler Simpson? He didn't even start, but he drove in three runs with a single and a triple. He had two hits, too.
Simpson drove in three runs./KIM HUKARI
Then there was Yandy Diaz, who delivered his 1,000th hit. Yeah, he had two hits, too.
Jonny DeLuca had two hits. So did Ben Williamson.
It was enough for the Rays to win their seventh straight game and their 13th in 14 games.
The Rays gave up four runs, their most in 14 games. Considering that the Rays started Griffin Jax as the opener, followed by four relievers, it's permissible.
Hunter Bigge got his first win for the Rays.
The Rays and Red Sox play again tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Fenway. Jesse Scholtens will start for the Rays against Connelly Early.
Turns out, the Tampa Bay Rays are going to need a bigger broom.
The Rays pulled off their second straight series sweep -- and their fifth of the season -- with a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field.
It was another positive stride for Shane McClanahan, who had his third straight scoreless outing. McClanahan went 5 2/3 innings to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Four relief pitchers went 3 1/3 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just two more hits.
DeLuca drove in winning run./KIM HUKARI
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Jonny DeLuca doubled in Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson singled in DeLuca.
In the eighth inning, the Rays added when Cedric Mullins scored on a throwing error.
The Rays have now won 12 in their last 13 games. They’ve thrown three shutouts. Their starters’ ERA is 1.38 and their bullpen ERA is 0.99.
The Rays now travel to Boston to play the Red Sox in a 7 p.m. game tonight at Fenway Park. Griffin Jax is scheduled to start for the Rays against Connelly Early.
He is not a regular hero. He just plays one every now and then.
Ben Williamson, the middle-infielder of the Tampa Bay Rays, snuck a single up the middle to drive his team to a 4-3 victory over Toronto at Tropicana Field Tuesday night.
It was the Rays' fifth straight win, and their 10th in the last 11 games. The Rays are 23-12 on the season.
Williamson, a .266 hitter, slapped a 2-1 pitch off Tyler Rogers to lead the comeback. It highlighted a two-run eighth that overcame a 3-2 deficit to win.
Jonathan Aranda started the uprising, doubling to left field with one out. Yandy Diaz then drove in pinch-runner Taylor Walls. After Jake Fraley singled, Williamson drove in the winning run.
The Jays leapt to a 2-0 lead when Kazuma Okamoto homered in the first and Andres Gimenez singled in Daulton Varsho.
The Rays came back to tie the game, Jonathan Aranda singled in Chandler Simpson in the third. In the fourth, Hunter Feduccia grounded into a double play to bring home another run.
Toronto went back ahead, 3-2, Yohendrick Pinango singled in Gimenez.
Simpson, Aranda, Fraley and Williamson all had two hits for the Rays.
Drew Rasmussen went six innings and allowed three earned runs. Casey Legumina got his first win for the Rays. Cole Susler had his second save.
The Rays and Jays play again today at 1:10 p.m. Shane McClanahan will start for the Rays against Patrick Corbin.
Tuesday, 4 a.m. Are you bored yet? Are you tired of seeing win after win by these Tampa Bay Rays? Of course not. The Rays followed their recent formula again Monday night in a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. They got stellar pitching (again) and enough hitting (again). They won their 10th game […]
Monday, 4 a.m. It ended with their best weapon, Nikita Kucherov, taking their last shot. He missed. As much as anything else, you can blame the shortcomings of the Tampa Bay Lightning on that. In the end, there was just too little Kucherov for the Bolts, and too much Montreal. The Canadiens slammed shut the […]
Monday, 3 a.m. He changes the scoreboard, that’s all. It should say that on Jonathan Aranda’s business card. Some players hit more home runs. Some steal more bases. Aranda? He drives in runs. When you boil the game of Jonathan Aranda down to its essence, it is this: He clears the bases. Aranda’s fourth hit […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. Given as how they are visiting Florida, perhaps the San Francisco Giants can take in some sights. You know, like home plate at Tropicana Field. The scoring woes of the Giants, baseball’s lowest scoring team, continued on Saturday night in a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have given […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. They live. At times, it looked shaky. At times, they looked as if they were staring into the off-season. And still, they survived. The Tampa Bay Lightning staved off elimination from the NHL playoffs Friday night, taking a 1-0 victory over Montreal in the Bell Centre. Gage Concalves tapped in a close […]
Saturday, 3 a.m. When they pitch, they compete. For the Tampa Bay Rays, it is as simple as that. On the nights their bullpen is weak, or their starting pitching does’t clock, they can be had. Ah, but when they pitch, the Rays are a pretty good baseball team. The Rays played their eighth straight […]
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About Gary Shelton
• No one covers Tampa Bay like Gary Shelton.
• No one has seen as many moments, as many athletes, as many coaches as he has over the last quarter of a century.
• No one has won more awards, including two national Associated Press Sports Editors Best Columnist awards and eight top 10 finishes. He also just received his sixth Sportswriter of the Year award for Florida by the NSSA.
• No one has seen more big events, including 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics and 11 Final Fours. Gary still goes into the locker rooms to obtain his stories.
• No one has made you angrier, or laugh louder, or think harder about what he has written.
Now, he begins a website designed to keep him in touch with the readers who have grown up on his words.
