Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox

· Major League Baseball

Tampa Bay Rays

86-75, 35-45 Away

Final
0 - 6

Boston Red Sox

77-84, 42-38 Home

Bogaerts hits slam, Eovaldi strong as Red Sox beat Rays 6-0

Christian Arroyo added an RBI single for Boston (77-84), which won its fifth straight home game.

It was 55 degrees and misty at the start, and rainy conditions lingered throughout. Boston had just taken a 6-0 lead with two outs in the fifth inning when rain started to fall heavily, prompting a delay. The game was called 52 minutes later.

The Rays (86-75) lost their fourth straight game since clinching a playoff berth. They will be the AL’s No. 6 seed and get a wild-card matchup with AL Central champion Cleveland. The Seattle Mariners get the No. 5 seed and match up with Toronto following a walk-off win over Detroit on Tuesday in the first game of their doubleheader.

"It will be a good environment,” second baseman Taylor Walls said of the Cleveland matchup. “I guess it's good that we kind of got to adapt to the cold weather a little bit — and the rain. It's a good thing that we just went there. ... I know the guys are amped up. We're ready to be there.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash said having their opponent settled heading into Wednesday's finale takes a lot off their plate.

“It definitely does,” Cash said. “Since we got in and since we knew we weren't going home ... you're going back-and-forth discussing too many options than I'm smart enough to keep up with. Now, if we can hone in on one maybe I can try to keep up.”

Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs (9-5) allowed one run off two hits and struck out three over three innings. Manager Kevin Cash kept his outing short so that he’ll be rested if needed to pitch a possible Game 3 in the wild-card round. Shane McClanahan and Tyler Glasnow are expected to start the first two games of the series.

Tampa didn't come out of the game completely healthy. Reliever Colin Poche left the game with an abdominal injury after giving up Bogaerts’ slam.

Cash said he'll head to the injured list and have an MRI on Wednesday.

“He's crushed. We're all crushed for him,” Cash said. “He's such a big part of our bullpen and for it to happen the way it happened — it's unfortunate.”

Eovaldi (6-3) allowed just two hits and struck out four in his second start since returning from the injured list due to right shoulder inflammation.

The right-hander’s future in Boston beyond this season is up in the air as he prepares to enter free agency.

He’s been with Boston since being traded from Tampa Bay late in 2018. He earned a place in Red Sox postseason lore during their championship run that fall with his marathon relief performance in Game 3 of the World Series against the Dodgers.

Now, the 32-year-old will wait to see if he stays put or possibly look to join the sixth team of his 11-year career.

“Definitely a little awkward coming out of the game and then with the rain delay and the game being over after that," Eovaldi said. "I was only at 64 pitches. I think my limit today was 90. ... It would have been nice to be able to walk off the field as the game was still going on.

“Just the thought that this one could be the last one here. But hopefully we'll be able to figure something out.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rays: INF Yandy Díaz (left shoulder strain) was out of the lineup for a third straight day. ... OF David Peralta sat for the second straight game after leaving Sunday’s game at Houston with right hip tightness. … Placed C Francisco Mejía on the paternity list and recalled C René Pinto from the taxi squad.

Red Sox: Bogaerts returned to the lineup after sitting out the series opener with tightness in his back.

ADDING UP

It was seventh grand slam of Bogaerts’ career and his second this season. He also hit one Aug. 31 at Minnesota. He is the 12th player to hit as many as seven grand slams for the Red Sox. The only players ahead of him on the list are Ted Williams (17), David Ortiz (10), Rico Petrocelli (9), Bobby Doerr (8), Trot Nixon (8), and Jim Rice (8).

How can I watch Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox?

TV Channel: Rays at Red Sox 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
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Scoring Summary

	5th Inning	Martinez scored on error, Hosmer safe at first on error by pitcher Raley, E. Hernández to second, E. Hernández safe at third on throwing error by second baseman Walls.
	5th Inning	E. Hernández walked, Martinez to second.
	5th Inning	Martinez walked.
	5th Inning	Verdugo grounded out to first.
	5th Inning	Raley relieved Poché
	5th Inning	Bogaerts homered to left (421 feet), Arroyo scored, Wong scored and Devers scored.

Statistics

TB		BOS
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
4	Ground Balls	5
4	Strikeouts	6
0	Runs Batted In	5
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
2	Hits	5
0	Stolen Bases	0
2	Walks	5
0	Catcher Interference	0
0	Runs	6
1	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
16	At Bats	20
0	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	1
6	Runners Left On Base	8
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
1	Doubles	1
8	Fly Balls	9
0	Caught Stealing	0
64	Pitches	101
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
3	Total Bases	9
18	Plate Appearances	25
0.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
1	Extra Base Hits	2
0.2	Runs Created	4.0
.125	Batting Average	.250
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.188	Slugging Percentage	.450
.188	Secondary Average	.450
.222	On Base Percentage	.400
.410	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.850
0.5	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.6
0.3	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	7.2
4.0	Batter Rating	32.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	20.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.56	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.04
.063	Isolated Power	.200
0.50	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.83
.111	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.200
.063	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.200
0.0	Runs Produced	11.0
0.0	Runs Ratio	0.8
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.6
0.2	Balls In Play Average	0.3
60.0	MLB Rating	80.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0