 returns to lead Rays past Red Sox 8-5BOSTON Kevin Kiermaier felt he had something to prove to the Charlotte Stone Crabs, where he played in two games while working his way back from a left thumb sprain.It took him all of one pitch.''I'm sure they're thinking, `Man, where was this a couple days ago?''' Kiermaier said, smiling, after homering on the first pitch he saw since returning to the majors and leading Tampa Bay to an 8-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night.''To be a fly on the wall in that room,'' said Kiermaier, who went 1 for 8 with the Class A Florida State League team. ''I know how baseball players are.'' Austin Meadows hit a three-run homer and Willy Adames also went deep for the Rays, who didn't even need their trade deadline reinforcements to win for the fifth time in six games.After closing three deals in the minutes before the 4 p.m. cutoff, the Rays jumped to a 5-0 lead against Boston starter Rick Porcello (9-8). The defending World Series champions made no moves, then went out and lost their third straight game at home.''Your front office is trying to win, and that gives us a message: They've got our backs,'' Kiermaier said. ''It makes us all excited. It gives you that second wind you need in the dog days of summer.'' Ryan Yarbrough (10-3) came on for opener Andrew Kittredge in the third and went 4 1/3 innings for the win, allowing four runs and six hits with three strikeouts.Kiermaier also tripled home a run and scored in the seventh, when the Rays made it 8-2.Michael Chavis homered and Boston scored three in the bottom half before Colin Poche struck out Andrew Benintendi with runners on first and third to end the inning. Chaz Roe fanned Benintendi looking with two on to earn his first save.Tampa Bay began the night a half-game behind Oakland in the AL wild-card race; the Athletics hosted Milwaukee later Wednesday night. The Rays remained 7 1/2 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East, with the Red Sox another 2 1/2 games further back.''It's August now. We know where we're at - we're in a big hole,'' Boston manager Alex Cora said. ''We have to play a lot better.'' J. D. Martinez had three hits, including his 23rd homer of the season, and Mookie Betts also had three hits. Boston has homered in 16 straight games at Fenway Park, the longest Red Sox streak since they did it in 17 in a row in 1969.Porcello allowed six runs on nine hits and one walk, striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings before leaving with a 6-2 deficit and taking out two TV monitors in the dugout.''I kind of wish I did that without cameras being on me,'' he said. ''I apologize to everyone that had to see that. It's not a behavior that I feel like is representative to me and my personality. The frustration got the best of me.'' The 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner had been the beneficiary of the best run support in the majors over his last four starts, with the Red Sox scoring 49 runs while he was in the game. He was 4-0 in those starts despite allowing 19 runs in 22 2/3 innings.TRADING TIMEThe Rays acquired slugger Jesus Aguilar from Milwaukee and also picked up right-handers Trevor Richards and Nick Anderson from Miami. They sent right-hander Ryne Stanek and minor league outfielder Jesus Sanchez to the Marlins and also traded reliever Adam Kolarek to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Class A outfielder Niko Hulsizer.NO BIG DEALThe Red Sox made no trades at the deadline. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said he didn't want to give up too much for what was realistically only a chance at a one-game wild-card playoff that is essentially a coin flip.''It's easy to say to switch people (around),'' he said. ''Sometimes you need to fix the people you have.'' TRAINER'S ROOMRays: Placed INF Joey Wendle on the 10-day injured list with right wrist inflammation. Manager Kevin Cash said Wendle felt it on a swing in Toronto and waited a few days before telling the team. ''He's a pretty tough guy. For him to acknowledge that two or three days later, just know the way his mind works,'' Cash said. ''Hopefully this is close to a minimum stint. Four, five days of no swinging and get some treatment.'' . Cash also said OF Tommy Pham hurt his hand on a slide recently and was available off the bench.Red Sox: C Christian Vazquez took a wild pitch off his right knee in the seventh inning and seemed to be having trouble with it in the ninth. He fell to the dirt and needed to walk it off, then the training staff came out to check on him a few pitches later. He stayed in but limped back to the dugout after the inning.UP NEXTRays: LHP Brendan McKay (1-1, 3.72 ERA) was recalled from Triple-A Durham before the game and is slated to start the series finale Thursday.Red Sox: RHP Andrew Cashner (10-5, 4.18) is set to make his fourth start for Boston since being acquired in a trade from Baltimore. He picked up his first win with the Red Sox last Friday against the Yankees.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Red Sox looking to find right tune with deadline nearFLMBoston Red Sox manager Alex Cora says his team just wants to dance in October.But if it can't shore up its bullpen in August and September, Boston will have to sit this October out, after dancing longer than anyone last fall.Tuesday night's 6-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays was another example of the defending champion's bullpen being unable to get the job done. After David Price lasted only 4 1/3 innings, Boston's relievers were unable to hang onto a 5-4 lead, hacking up two sixth-inning runs.That makes Wednesday night's rematch with Tampa Bay at Fenway Park a little more critical for Boston, which now trails the Rays by 1 1/2 games and has fallen two games off the AL wild-card pace behind Oakland. That's two teams in front of the Red Sox with two-thirds of the season done.Boston general manager Dave Dombrowski is expected to target relievers before Wednesday's 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. Rumors have tied the Red Sox to closers Edwin Diaz (Mets), Shane Greene (Tigers) and Raisel Iglesias (Reds), although indications as of Tuesday night are that Boston might pivot towards lesser names.Regardless, Cora is hoping to get some reinforcements."I've been saying all along that there's different situations," he told MLB.com. "Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. It's going to happen in the next 48 hours and it will happen next year and in the upcoming years. That's just the nature of baseball. It happens." What happened Tuesday night was that Tampa Bay again proved its staying power. The Rays got a home run and three RBIs from Avisail Garcia, who drilled a two-run double in the sixth that put them ahead to stay.Tampa Bay also got the outs from the bullpen that Boston's couldn't. Six relievers combined to pick up the last 13 outs for the Rays, with Emilio Pagan working his way through the last 1 1/3 innings to garner his eighth save.Even better news for the Rays is that they figure to activate center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (sprained thumb) from the 10-day injured list on Wednesday. Kiermaier, who's batting .248 with 10 homers and 43 RBIs, came through two rehab games in Single-A over the weekend with flying colors."Feels great being back, and I certainly feel good enough to go," he told MLB.com. "I know it's not going to be totally 100 percent for a little bit, but good enough to go. I tested it out every way possible in my two (rehab) games in Clearwater. I feel ready." Tampa Bay will use an opener on Wednesday, right-hander Andrew Kittredge (1-0, 3.05 ERA). His last outing was Saturday at Toronto, where he fanned seven over three innings in an opening role, allowing five hits and two runs in a 10-9 loss.The Red Sox counter with veteran righty Rick Porcello (9-7, 5.55), who enjoyed a quality start Thursday night in a 19-3 pummeling of the New York Yankees. He worked six innings, scattering six hits and three runs with a walk and five strikeouts. He is 4-0 with a 7.54 ERA in four starts this month.Porcello is 14-11 in 30 career starts against the Rays with a 3.50 earned run average, although he suffered a 5-1 loss to them on June 7.--Field Level Media
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