Saturday, 4 a.m.
No Junior Caminero.
No Brandon Lowe.
No Chandler Simpson.
Only a touch of Jake McGee.
Alas, no victory.
The Tampa Bay Rays emptied their bench in Friday night's 11-7 loss to the Boston Red Sox. They started a ragtag lineup instead.
For a short while, it looked as if that might be good enough. Home runs by Yandy Diaz and Carson Williams -- and a run-scoring single by Diaz -- gave the Rays a 3-2 lead going into the seventh inning.
The Rays, however, couldn't hold up to the Sox. For the night, they gave up 12 hits, five walks, committed three errors and hit a batter. They gave up seven runs in the eighth inning.
It was all enough to eliminate the Rays from the playoff race.
Jarren Duran hit a two-run homer in the seventh to give the Sox a 4-3 lead.
Then the onslaught began. Nate Eaton singled in Romy Gonzalez. Ceddanne Rafaela singled in Eaton and Trevor Story grounded into a fielder's choice when the Rays committed an error. A bases-loaded walk by Cole Wilcox brought in the eighth run. A two-base error by Tristan Gray brought in two more runs. Nate Lowe was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the 11th run.
A grand slam by Everson Pereira in the bottom of the ninth made it 11-7. The Rays had four hits in the inning.
The Rays chose to sit Caminero, their leading home run producer (44) and RBI man (108). They sat Brandon Lowe (29 homers). They sat Simpson (hitting .301 with 42 stolen bases). They sat Mangum (hitting .293).
The Rays got only three innings out of starter Drew Rasmussen, who threw 76 pitches in his stint. He gave up four hits and two earned runs.
Wilcox gave up five runs and four hits in his inning.
It left the Rays with a lineup that featured three batters hitting under .200 and five others hitting under .241. The Rays had only four hits on the night until their ninth.
The Rays and Red Sox play again tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Steinbrenner Field. Adrian Houser will start for the Rays against Kyle Harrison.
