*Photo from the Boston Globe*
The Boston Red Sox entered Tampa Bay dealing with a Covid-19 outbreak, that only got worse during this week's series. The man they call Steady Eddie made sure they kept winning. Eduardo Rodriguez delivered shutout pitching, Bobby Dalbec drove in two runs, and the Red Sox shut out the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 on Thursday night.
Boston manager Alex Cora said "There was a lot of energy today. The guys were into it from the get-go and to be able to do that is a testament to them, as a group. They understand that teams go through stuff like that. It’s not the first team that has a COVID issue, but there have been teams that went through this and then they took off, right? Hopefully this is our ‘taking off’ and we can play solid baseball all the way through September and get to October to play in October."
The fact that the Red Sox escaped Tampa Bay with a series split feels like a miracle, given the current Covid-19 situation throughout the locker room. As they leave Tampa Bay, the Red Sox currently have 8 players on the Covid-19 IL, plus multiple coaches sidelined due to the virus. Regardless, they had enough juice to win two straight games and salvage a split with the AL East leaders.
The name of the game was the single for Boston, as all 4 runs came around on RBI singles. In the first inning, Dalbec got the Red Sox on the board first, with his single scoring Hunter Renfroe to make it 1-0 Boston to get things started. In the second inning, Danny Santana scored on an RBI single from Renfroe, doubling the lead to 2-0. Dalbec and JD Martinez added RBI singles in the 5th to make it a 4-0 game.
Rodriguez turned in a solid start for the Red Sox, throwing 6 shutout innings, yielding just 4 hits and one walk, with 6 punchouts to get the win, bumping his record up to 11-7 on the season. After Rodriguez departed, Garrett Richards came out of the bullpen and tossed 3 shutout innings to earn the 3 inning save, his second of the season, and 4th 3 inning save of his career.
Rodriguez was happy with his start postgame, saying that "Today was one of those days that, for the first time of the whole season, I felt completely like me in my location. The cutter, the changeup, the curveball, the four-seam, for the first time, I felt good with all of it. That’s how I want to feel the rest of the season, especially when you’re trying to make it to the playoffs."
Rays starter Shane McClanahan got the start and was hit with the loss, dropping to 9-5 this season. He was charged with all 4 runs on 8 hits and two walks, fanning 8 hitters in 5 innings pitched. Adam Conley, Shawn Armstrong, and JP Feyereisen combined for 4 shutout innings in relief of McClanahan, which kept the Rays in it, but they couldn't convert.
McClanahan said postgame that "It’s not like I got tagged for home runs or extra-base hits. It's just one of those nights where it didn't go my way. Kudos to them. It's a good hitting team. But I'd like to think sometimes that eight singles isn't going to get the job done, but I've got to do a better job executing pitches.
The Red Sox return home on Friday night to start a series with the Cleveland Indians, with Nathan Eovaldi starting game one of the 3 game series. The Rays welcome the Minnesota Twins to town Friday night, with Michael Wacha getting the start.
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