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Art Deco · 02-01-2023, 12:28 PM

A fine return to action for the Rays who took 3 of 4 from Boston at the Trop, and should have had a sweep if not for someone major issues with RISP in the loss. The Yankees split their 4 with Toronto so the lead is back up to 5 games.

Earl Weaver's formula for success was pitching, defense and the 3-run homer and the Rays got those tonight in a 10-2 rout of the Red Sox to kick off the unofficial second half of the season. Kelly Crumpton (#29) and Arturo Gutierrez (#27, extended his hit streak to 21) hit 3-run dingers in the 3rd and 4th to break the game open while Joshua Baez had to settle for a 2-run shot (#11) in the 8th. The pitching came courtesy of Kevin DiCostanzo (10-4) who went 5.1 6 2 2 2 4 and Christian Little who pitched 2 2/3 1-hit innings while fanning 6. And I'm sure there was some good defense in there somewhere.

It was another comfortable win for Tampa Bay as they handled Boston 7-1 in the second game. Dong-hwan Kim was 3-5 with 2 RBI, Kelly Crumpton appears cured from his pre-ASB slump as he homered again (#30) with a man on, and Arturo Gutierrez made it 22 straight with a hit as he went yard for the second straight day as well (#28). Michael Prosecky (6-5) dealt with a lot of traffic on the bases but put up the stop sign at home plate as he went 5.1 8 1 1 2 4 including a bases-loaded, one-out sequence where he got consecutive whiffs to escape.

The third game was a weird one that the Rays lost 5-4 primarily because they couldn't get a hit when they needed it. In fact they only had three hits in the entire game, but Boston starter Alex Sifontes walked 9 men and the bullpen 2 more while the Sox committed a pair of errors so they had plenty of baserunners. Things started poorly when Wes Mendes (9-4) gave up a first-inning slam and another run in the 2nd to finish 5 5 5 5 3 7 but the Rays immediately got 3 back with in the bottom of the inning with Carlos Colmenarez's 2-run single the only hit of the inning. Meanwhile they kept putting men on but ended up leaving 12 on base with Cristian Hernandez personally stranding 10. He was part of one sequence where they loaded the bases with nobody out and the next three men struck out. Unfortunately Arturo Gutierrez did not get one of the three hits and his streak ended at 22 games, still a season-best in the AL.

The Rays bounced back from Saturday's frustrations to take the finale from Boston 5-0 on a combined 5-hit shutout from Francisco Morales and three relievers. Morales (4-1) wasn't his sharpest, needing 97 pitches to go 5 4 0 0 4 7 but the pen was as Ruben Abeyta, Tommy Burpee and Mike Moore went a combined 4 1 0 0 2 5 to close it out. The offense came early with Kelly Crumpton's 2-run double in the first and Nate Strickland contributed a solo shot (#13).

Team record: 61-32. Next up: A quick 2-game series at home against Baltimore.

02-01-2023, 12:28 PM	#996
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,119	July 15-18, 2032: vs Boston (4) A fine return to action for the Rays who took 3 of 4 from Boston at the Trop, and should have had a sweep if not for someone major issues with RISP in the loss. The Yankees split their 4 with Toronto so the lead is back up to 5 games. Earl Weaver's formula for success was pitching, defense and the 3-run homer and the Rays got those tonight in a 10-2 rout of the Red Sox to kick off the unofficial second half of the season. Kelly Crumpton (#29) and Arturo Gutierrez (#27, extended his hit streak to 21) hit 3-run dingers in the 3rd and 4th to break the game open while Joshua Baez had to settle for a 2-run shot (#11) in the 8th. The pitching came courtesy of Kevin DiCostanzo (10-4) who went 5.1 6 2 2 2 4 and Christian Little who pitched 2 2/3 1-hit innings while fanning 6. And I'm sure there was some good defense in there somewhere. It was another comfortable win for Tampa Bay as they handled Boston 7-1 in the second game. Dong-hwan Kim was 3-5 with 2 RBI, Kelly Crumpton appears cured from his pre-ASB slump as he homered again (#30) with a man on, and Arturo Gutierrez made it 22 straight with a hit as he went yard for the second straight day as well (#28). Michael Prosecky (6-5) dealt with a lot of traffic on the bases but put up the stop sign at home plate as he went 5.1 8 1 1 2 4 including a bases-loaded, one-out sequence where he got consecutive whiffs to escape. The third game was a weird one that the Rays lost 5-4 primarily because they couldn't get a hit when they needed it. In fact they only had three hits in the entire game, but Boston starter Alex Sifontes walked 9 men and the bullpen 2 more while the Sox committed a pair of errors so they had plenty of baserunners. Things started poorly when Wes Mendes (9-4) gave up a first-inning slam and another run in the 2nd to finish 5 5 5 5 3 7 but the Rays immediately got 3 back with in the bottom of the inning with Carlos Colmenarez's 2-run single the only hit of the inning. Meanwhile they kept putting men on but ended up leaving 12 on base with Cristian Hernandez personally stranding 10. He was part of one sequence where they loaded the bases with nobody out and the next three men struck out. Unfortunately Arturo Gutierrez did not get one of the three hits and his streak ended at 22 games, still a season-best in the AL. The Rays bounced back from Saturday's frustrations to take the finale from Boston 5-0 on a combined 5-hit shutout from Francisco Morales and three relievers. Morales (4-1) wasn't his sharpest, needing 97 pitches to go 5 4 0 0 4 7 but the pen was as Ruben Abeyta, Tommy Burpee and Mike Moore went a combined 4 1 0 0 2 5 to close it out. The offense came early with Kelly Crumpton's 2-run double in the first and Nate Strickland contributed a solo shot (#13). Team record: 61-32. Next up: A quick 2-game series at home against Baltimore.