The Red Sox look to erase some games behind the Rays. The Yankees look to continue to move forward despite the number of players out. The Jays start their west coast trip in hopes to gain ground. Let’s see what happened this week and what is to come over the weekend in the American League East.
TAMPA BAY RAYS
Luis Patino started game one and went six innings. He gave up the four runs the Red Sox scored. Brandon Lowe went 3-for-4 and hit his 25th home run of the season. Randy Arozarena, who returned from the COVID-19 IL, went 2-for-4. Down by two in the seventh, the Rays tied the game against Garrett Whitlock. They then scored four runs off of Matt Barnes that gave them the 8-4 win.
Josh Fleming started game two and gave up 10 runs in 3.1 innings. It was surprising how long Kevin Cash left him considering the number of runs given up. Lowe hit his 26th home run off of Nathan Eovaldi in the sixth inning. Brett Phillips hit a grand slam in the ninth off of Phillips Valdez. Mike Zunino also hit a home run in the ninth. The Rays lost 20-8.
More proof that we don't quit no matter the score pic.twitter.com/xDIVKxU8iB — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 12, 2021
Drew Rasmussen went four innings and gave up one run in the series finale. Wander Franco hit his 5th home run of the season and Mike Zunino hit his 23rd. Kevin Kiermaier went 3-for-3. The Rays won 8-1.
The Rays head to Minnesota for a series against the Twins. Shane McClanahan and Luis Patino are scheduled to pitch.
BOSTON RED SOX
The Red Sox looking to get revenge on the Rays sent Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound. He went 5.1 innings and gave up two runs. Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-4. Rafael Devers hit his 28th home run of the season and Hunter Renfroe hit his 19th of the season against his former team. The Sox had a 4-2 lead until the seventh inning. Garrett Whitlock gave up the two runs that tied the game. Matt Barnes came into the 9th inning to keep the game tied and gave up four runs. The Sox lost 8-4.
The Sox made sure that they were winning the game on Wednesday and it looked concerning in the 9th. Nathan Eovaldi went seven innings and gave up only one run, a home run by Lowe. J.D. Martinez went 4-for-4. Renfroe and Enrique Hernandez when 3-for-5. Bogaerts went 2-for-4 and hit his 17th home run of the season. Bobby Dalbec went 2-for-3 with two walks. Valdez pitched in the 9th in what seemed like should be an easy inning. He gave up seven runs which included a grand slam. Luckily the offense scored 20 runs because that could have been ugly for the Sox. They won 20-8.
Tanner Houck was on the mound for the series finale. He went five innings and was charged with four runs, three earned. Austin Davis and Hansel Robles gave up four runs. The offense only had two hits in the game. They lost 8-1.
The Sox will face the O’s over the weekend. Nick Pivetta, Chris Sale, and Eduardo Rodriguez are scheduled to pitch.
NEW YORK YANKEES
The Yankees faced the Royals this week and let me tell you, it felt like a chore watching that series. The Yankees bullpen had a tough time keeping almost every lead the offense gave during the series.
Jameson Taillon started in game one. He went six innings and was charged with one run that was inherited by Jonathan Loaisiga. The story of the game is how the pitching staff blew four leads. From the 7th inning until the 10th, every time the offense scored, the pitching gave up the same amount of runs. The game finally was over in the 11th inning when the offense scored three runs and Wandy Peralta only gave up one before recording the last out of the game. Aaron Judge went 2-for-4.