Three takeaways from Red Sox’ 8-7 loss to Rays: Ron Roenicke has an interesting night

Red Sox 7, Rays 8

Mitch Moreland walked off on the Blue Jays on Sunday night and should’ve had a chance to walk off on the Rays on Monday.

But with the tying run on first base and two outs, Moreland was never used off the bench. Manager Ron Roenicke stuck with Michael Chavis against right-handed pitcher Andrew Kittredge and struck out to end the game.

It was a confusing decision by Roenicke and ended a nearly 4-1/2 hour game that went back and forth in sloppy fashion.

Here are the three takeaways:

1. Jeffrey Springs pitched forever. In a tight game. Against a division rival.

With the scored tied 4-4 in the fifth inning and the Red Sox in a back-and-forth battle against the Rays, Roenicke called on lefty Jeffrey Springs, who took his 13.50 ERA into the game.

Ten batters later, Springs walked off the mound with a 15.43 ERA.

It’s hard to fault Roenicke for wanting to stick with a left-handed pitcher against a Rays lineup that was loaded with lefty hitters, including their two most dangerous hitters, Austin Meadows and Brandon Lowe.

Unfortunately for Roenicke, he’s been without his best lefties all year. Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor have been monstrous losses for this team and their absence is felt multiple times a week, especially in a game like this one.

The problem is that Springs hasn’t shown any consistent success in the big leagues and hasn’t been effective for the Red Sox since coming over from Texas in a trade for Sam Travis. And yet Roenicke let him stay in the game for 51 pitches. He allowed three runs on five hits, walking one and striking out one.

Before the game, Roenicke was asked if he feels like he can properly manage the team with this short pitching staff or if he’s forced to use whoever is healthy and/or available.

“It’s a little of both,” he said frankly. “Whoever’s healthy and fresher, certainly we’re looking to put in that night.”

It’s a shame considering the Red Sox could still compete if they had just a few decent pitchers, but their total lack of depth at the position hasn’t been this glaring since the stretch run in 2011.

2. The Rays ran all over Kevin Plawecki

Plawecki has always been a questionable defender of the stolen base, but the Rays had a clear plan to trample the dirt at Fenway Park on Monday.

They were running early and often, stealing second base three times and third base once. Plawecki’s throws weren’t really close, either, until there was a video replay call that went his way on a caught stealing on Meadows late in the game.

It’s bad enough the Red Sox don’t have many pitchers they can trust for these long bullpen games. But to give away 90 feet four times is a cost the Sox can’t afford to pay.

Plawecki, who was 3-for-4 with three singles at the plate, has now allowed six stolen bases on seven tries this year. Over his career he’s only caught 23% of attempted base-stealers, well below the league average of 28%.

Christian Vazquez has caught 40% of bas-sstealers in his career.

The Sox made some other defensive mistakes, too. Jose Pereza botched a routine grounder to start the fourth inning. And the ball found him on the very next play, too, when a pop-fly was hit behind second base. Peraza was late to chase it and it dropped between him and Jackie Bradley Jr. in center. He’s been underwhelming in his first year as the Sox’ second baseman.

3. Jonathan Arauz made us forget about Rafael Devers… for one game

Devers was out with a sore ankle and seen in a walking boot before the game, paving way for the Rule 5 pick, Arauz, to make a rare start.

He was 0-for-9 entering the game but picked up his first big league hit on a single to center field in the fifth inning, then roped one off the Green Monster for another single in the seventh.

In the biggest spot of the game in the eighth inning, Arauz hit with the bases loaded and roped a double to left-center to score two and cut the Rays’ lead to one.

A year ago, he was playing shortstop for the Corpus Christi Hooks in his eighth career game above Single-A. Monday, he finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. He also made a difficult play on a hard-hit grounder at third base and finished it with a perfectly-thrown bullet to first base.

Devers is day-to-day and as long as he’s out, the Sox might as well see what they’ve got in Arauz.

BONUS TAKEAWAY: J.D. Martinez hit his first homer of the year

It was a moonshot over everything in left field off an inside cutter. Martinez looked relieved in the dugout afterward.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3fPmZbU