Red Sox Rays Recap: Eovaldi Dominates, Red Sox Sweep Defending AL Champs

THE FIRST PITCH

What a difference a few days makes. After losing their first three games of the season to the lowly Orioles the Red Sox bounced back to rip off 3 straight wins over the defending American League Champion Tampa Rays including a 9-3 victory Wednesday at Fenway Park.

Starter Nathan Eovaldi (1-1) produced another strong and efficient outing, leading the Red Sox to a victory and the series sweep. Unlike his first time out, Eovaldi had plenty of run support as the Red Sox offense produced all 9 runs during the 4th and 5th innings.

3 UP 3 DOWN

Up

Nate Eovaldi: The star of the show threw for 7 innings and only allowed 1 run on 91 pitches en route to winning YouTube Player of the Game.

Christian Vazquez: Vazquez continued his hot start to the season with his 2nd home run in as many games, collecting 3 RBIs along the way, and boosting his OPS to 1.266.

Xander Bogaerts: The Red Sox shortstop was strong against a southpaw pitcher once again, going a perfect 3-3 while driving in a run and scoring 2 runs himself.

 

Down

Willy Adames: The shortstop had a day to forget, going hitless in 3 at bats and throwing the ball past 1st base which allowed 2 runs for the Red Sox

Ryan Yarbrough: Yarbrough started strong but was never able to recover from the Red Sox run in the 4th and 5th innings, allowing 9 runs, but only 6 of them earned, in 5 innings.

Yandy Diaz: The Rays DH offered zero offensive support, going hitless for the second straight game and striking out twice.

TURNING POINT

Vazquez and J.D. Martinez drove in a combined 5 runs in 2 innings, but it was Eovaldi’s consecutive shutout innings that allowed the Red Sox to cruise comfortably.

 

THAT’S WHAT HE SAID

Alex Cora had high praise for the overlooked Christian Vazquez, whose powerful bat has come alive during the Red Sox’s 3 game win streak:

“He’s the closest thing to a complete package… he’s been swinging the bat the last two years, defensively we know what he can do, but nobody gives him recognition… I do believe that he’s one of the top catchers in the league.”

 

CLEARING THE BASES

• This matchup was the first ever MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube and Eovaldi won the YouTube Player of the Game for his standout performance.
• Ryan Yarbrough’s (0-1) streak of 18 scoreless innings since September 20, 2020 was snapped in the 4th inning by a Xander Bogaerts single which drove in Rafael Devers.
• Randy Arozarena caught the final out of the first inning in foul territory while competing with some fans.
• J.D. Martinez doubled off the Monster to score 2 runs, making him the 1st player in Red Sox history with an extra base hit in the first 6 games of a season.