The MLB Week 22 included a game between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park in Boston, which was won by the host 9-8. In that game, Red Sox’s batter, Xander Bogaerts hit a homer.
Bogaerts, who came into the plate at Bottom 6, scored 8-4 for the Red Sox when he hit the ball to the left field and tallied his 11th home run this season, hitting the three-run home run for the team.
“Felt really good off the bat. Kind of knew it. That was a good one,” Bogaerts said.
Bogaerts’ homer also played a huge role in how the Red Sox stopped the Rays’ six-game win streak.
Match recap
The Rays led the game first when Yandy Diaz, Ji-Man Choi, and Harold Ramirez homered to score an early 4-1 lead. It was Diaz, who homered his eight homers in the first inning, followed by Choi’s two-run homer in the second inning, that allowed Jose Siri to score a run. In third, Ramirez’s home run made it 4-1 for the Rays.
Then, the Red Sox tied the score to 4-4 from two runs tallied in the fourth, and two RBIs in the fifth inning, respectively. It was Red Sox batter Francy Cordero, who hit a homer, with Kevin Plawecki singles back to the plate, that led to 4-2 in fourth. The Red Sox tied the game when Enrique Hernandez hit the ground ball, leading him to score two-run home runs, with Bogaerts’ scoring a run.
Pitched from the start for Red Sox, Michael Wacha struck out six in six innings. He said that the game was not going well at the start.
“Definitely didn’t the start the way I had planned but was able to make some minor adjustments with the mechanics,” Wacha said. “With those changes, it helped make the off-speed pitches sharper and the fastball command got a lot better after that.”
From the 4-4 score, Red Sox managed to lead the game to 4-9. Their comeback started when Plawecki hit allowed Bobby Dalbec to score a run at the bottom five, followed by Bogaerts’ three-run homer, with each Alex Verdugo and J.D. Martinez scoring a run at the bottom six, and added by Tommy Pham when he scored a run as Verdugo hit the ball in the bottom seven.
Moreover, the Rays chased the score in the eighth inning, with Siri’s homers, which led each Harold Ramirez, and David Peralta scoring a run.
In that match, Cora played four pitchers, including Wacha, Ryan Brasier, Matt Barnes, who struck out three batters, and Garrett Whitlock. In the ninth, Whitlock then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save.
For the next rumble on Saturday, Jeffrey Springs (6-3), who recorded a 2.46 ERA will start on the mound for the Rays to face Red Sox left-hander Rich Hill (5-5), who recorded a 4.68 ERA. Springs is 3-0 and recorded a 1.66 ERA this month, while Hill is trying to secure his second straight win after beating the Pirates on August 17.