The Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox featured very little offense on Thursday night. Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta didn’t even allow a hit before leaving at the 100-pitch mark through 6 2/3. The Rays didn’t get their first hit until the eighth inning. And still, the Rays won the game, because the Red Sox weren’t doing anything on offense either.
Tampa Bay came away with a 1-0 victory with two outs in the bottom of the ninth… and on a swing-and-miss, to perfectly summarize the offense in this game.
On a 1-0 count with runners on second and third, Boston reliever Matt Barnes got Tampa Bay’s Francisco Mejía to swing and miss at an 0-1 breaking ball. However, the pitch bounced in the dirt and got away from catcher Christian Vázquez, allowing Manuel Margot to score the game-winning run for Tampa Bay.
The Rays #walkoff to reclaim first in the AL East. pic.twitter.com/X0Ypg4ZH9M
— MLB (@MLB) June 25, 2021
A wild ending to a wild game. #walkoff pic.twitter.com/pXt2zLFoQD
— MLB (@MLB) June 25, 2021
That’s a pretty frustrating night for the Red Sox pitching staff: Pivetta couldn’t try to go the distance with his no-hitter due to pitch count, and then Barnes gets a whiff but loses the game on it (that’s of course the risk with a pitch in the dirt in that spot, though).
But the Rays will certainly take it, especially after losing seven of their previous eight games.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.