If you have every been stuck on the Gandy or the Howard-Frankland Bridge heading over the water to Tropicana Field, then you know what it felt like to be a Rays baserunner in this contest. The Rays were 0-13 with runners in scoring position leaving 12 men on base as the team’s runs came on two fielder’s choices in the first and final frame. It is not like Boston was much better as they were 1-5 with runners in scoring position while also leaving nine runners on base, but solo shots from both Roman
Anthony & Jahmai Jones along with a two-run bases loaded single by Anthony accounted for entirety of the Boston offense in this contest.
This was not a well pitched game by either starter, but Ranger Suarez executed some pitches on the paint in key moments to keep runners stranded while Ian Seymour failed to do so. The Rays’ bullpen was nearly flawless over the final four innings as Ty Johnson, Casey Legumina, and Alex Cook scattered two singles around six strikeouts, but the Rays offense simply stalled out in key moments all throughout this contest.
Suarez generated just six swings and misses on the evening, but there were three in particular which were rather impressive. The first one came in the second inning when Yandy Diaz had two runners on and could not protect against a well-located cutter high and away that would have clipped the zone had Diaz not swung:
The second one came in the bottom of the 3rd when Jonny DeLuca was at the plate with two runners on and took a 2-2 sinker in this location that was upheld as a strike three call by ABS:
The next one came in the bottom of the 5th inning, and while the bases were empty, the 3-2 sinker vapor-locked Junior Caminero:
The Rays would go on to strike out six other times in the game, but more importantly, would go on to leave multiple runners on base in the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 9th innings. The 5th inning may have been as the final frame as the Rays would load the bases on three walks, but Jake Fraley would strike out to end the inning. Fraley, rather than Richie Palacios, was brought in for the pinch hitting in that moment. It was surprising given the fact Fraley just returned to the team on Thursday and had two plate appearances against major league pitching since mid-May. Small sample size fun says Fraley is a career .414 hitter with the bgases loaded with two grand slams and 37 RBIs in 36 plate appearances. An even smaller sample size shows that Fraley is now 0-5 with the bases loaded in 2026 with four strikeouts and an infield popout.
While one might feel it is hard to strand so many runners in one game, both Los Angeles franchises did the same thing two nights ago. Unsurprisingly, they too both lost while only scoring two runs. The Rays pulled off a similar line score on opening day when they stranded 16 men on base in the 9-7 loss that day. They were able to survive the next three instances of traffic jams on the bases, including the singles-fest which occurred in Seattle on August 9th. Tonight, they simply could not execute at the plate in key moments, and some of that is credited to Boston pitching executing timely pitches around multiple bouts of wildness in this game. The Rays had plenty of chances to come back and win this game, but failed to even generate one timely hit to change the outcome of this contest.
