ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA — The Tampa Bay Rays dropped their second straight to the Boston Red Sox thanks to the arm of pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez (11-7) went six innings, allowing four hits and striking out six batters. His record now stands at 4-2 dating back to the beginning of August.
The Red Sox also saw Garrett Richards perform on the mound with a spotless closing spectacle. The 33-year-old pitcher took down four Rays hitters and allowed only one hit throughout nearly three innings.
Wander Franco, Tampa Bay´s star rookie, extended his on-base streak to 33 games. Franco ended up leaving the game due to a headache, which Rays manager Kevin Cash later commented on.
“We’re going to monitor for concussion symptoms to see what we get,” Cash said to the media. “Didn’t look that severe at the time, but maybe there’s some carryover. We really don’t have many answers quite yet.”
Tampa Bay’s pitching rotation featured the red hot first-year Shan McClanahan (9-5). McClanahan, 24, entered Thursday night with a string of five straight victories. However, the rookie faltered in his duel with the Red Sox, allowing four runs and eight hits in five innings.
Boston´s biggest hits included two singles in the second inning from that of Hunter Renfroe and Bobby Dalbec. J.D Martinez did the same in the fifth and Boston went up 4-0 a few batters later.
What’s Next
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After Thursday night’s results, Tampa Bay sits eight games above Boston — the same lead they held on the Sox prior to the four-game series — in the AL East Standings and 6.5 tallies ahead of the recently struggling Yankees. The Rays will face off against the Minnesota Twins on Friday at 7.10 p.m. E.T.
RHP Michael Wacha (2-4, 5.70 ERA) is expected to open up on the mound for Tampa Bay. His adversary — RHP Randy Dobnak — enters the game at 1-6 with a 7.83 ERA.