Rays 5, Red Sox 8: Early scoring can’t keep the Rays in the lead

At least we get to do this all over again in a couple hours.

Well, let’s just say game one of the double-header didn’t go quite as we had hoped it might. I won’t leave it quite that vague, but I will try to give you a short and sweet recap since there is a whole second game to be played today and this one was a fairly high-scoring affair.

The three biggest takeaways if you want to TL;DR this recap:

• Jalen Beeks blew it
• Wander Franco left the game early and will not be playing in game 2
• After only his second appearance Joe LaSorsa was DFA’d by the team

Now let’s hit the highlights.

The Rays were the first to score on the grey day at Fenway. The top of the second saw a Ramirez leadoff single, and a two-out walk from Walls. With two men on, Bethancourt singled, then Ramirez scored on an error from the shortstop. They weren’t done yet though as a Diaz double then scored Walls and Bethancourt, putting the Rays up 3-0 in the second.

In the fifth, the Rays struck again. Franco got a one-out single, then Brandon Lowe drew a walk. An Arozarena single loaded the bases, then a Ramirez sac fly brought Franco home. In the bottom of the inning with LaSorsa on the mound McGuire reached for the Sox on a double, then a Verdugo single brought him home, putting the Red Sox on the board.

You might think this was a bad day for LaSorsa, getting DFA’d after allowing a single run. But the real bad performance of the game belongs to Jalen Beeks in the sixth inning. Hernandez reached on a one-out single, then McGuire walked. A Reyes single scored Hernandez. Devers got a two-out walk, and a Turner double managed to clear the bases, scoring McGuire, Reyes, and Devers. A Yoshida double then scored Turner. Beeks was done but the bleeding wasn’t. Criswell then gave up a single to Duran to score Yoshida and when the sixth inning was over the Red Sox were leading 7-4.

The Rays managed to fight back a little in the seventh as Franco got a one-out double, Brandon Lowe singled, and then Ramirez brought Franco home. Unfortunately the Red Sox were also not finished. With two outs, Reyes singled, then stole second and was able to get to third on a Bethancourt throwing error. Verdugo doubled to score Reyes.

Bad news bears all around.

Final: Red Sox 8, Rays 5