Staats throws the first throw, rays throw away the lead: rays 7, Red Sox 11

The night started with a memory that baseball is more than just a game, but a continuous story. Dewayne Staats, the voice of Rays Baseball since the beginning, has taken the first throw into what was a nod to his fiftieth season in the stand and perhaps a calm recognition that ends his time at the microphone. On the field there was still a strange observation when the departing main owner of the Rays, Stuennberg, pulled as Ballboy. Just as his ownership management is coming to an end, the Rays’ late season also hoped against the end of the night.

Every night in the margin, you can see something for the first time, and this game bent hard in that theme.

Drew Rasmussen was on the hill and for two batters it seemed that his order could carry the night. Jarren Duran chopped one to be short before the first zero, and Trevor Story Struckout. Then things started to change. Alex Bregman worked a walk, Masataka Yoshida hit a double to the right, and suddenly the Red Sox had two runners in a score position with two down. Rasmussen escaped when Romy Gonzalez was in second place, but it was a first warning sign that the game would not follow a clean script.

The rays first hit the bottom of the inning. Yandy Díaz, who did Yandy Díaz -Dingen, brought a two -squeeze to the left. Christopher Morel followed with a walk, and although Josh Lowe went swinging, Nick Fortes hit a grounder in the middle to bring Díaz home. It was 1-0 and it felt like Momentum could settle in favor of Tampa Bay.

But some would claim that momentum in baseball is a social construct.

In the second, Nate Eaton first hit a single, and Nathaniel Lowe immediately followed with a lining to the center that brought him home to bind the game. Rasmussen regrerged with a strikeout and a number of fast outs, but the tone was already set that there would be no collection of easy.

Then the fireworks came from the young rays. Carson Williams turned a throw in the second and sent it in the right -hand felder chairs. A solo shot, his fifth of the season, and the rays were back for 2-1. It was one of those moments so that you wonder how high the ceiling can be for this team next season.

The back and forth took place in the third. Richie Palacios made a smoothly rotating throw to retire, but Alex Bregman waited. He jumped on a throw and read it in the left field chairs to bind the game 2-2. Yandy Díaz immediately replied back in the bottom half, hit his 25th Homer of the season to the right and gave the Rays a 3-2 lead.

The bullpen from Rays arrived in the fourth and the rhythm shone. Cole Sulser gave the rays a clean fourth and Rasmussen’s night was quietly ready. On the other side, Garrett Crochet mowed by Hitters in Tampa Bay. Both teams exchanged strikeouts and stranded baseunners through the middle innings.

The seventh is where he broke. Garrett Splitper took the hill and immediately set a single to Rafaela. Then Jarren Duran, a sky-high two-run Homer, ran to the right who turned the score 4-3. CleaVinger got a story to pierce and a Groundout from Bregman, but Kevin Cash took the plug and turned to Cole Wilcox to get out of the seventh. That did not cover and the eighth became the nightmare frame.

It started with a double from Gonzalez and an Eaton RBI Single. Then came a stolen base, a walk, a bloop single, another single and suddenly the Red Sox had a three-run lead with drawers. The choice of a field player brought another point, a walk with drawers pushed another home, and then the defense participated in the collapse because why not. Tristan Gray missed a throw that hit Bob Seymour with two more runs scoring, and by the time Nathaniel Lowe was hit by a throw with the bases full, it was 11-3. A six-run implosion that felt like it took a long time, the kind of inning where you wanted a game clock that was finished and could end the misery. On the other hand, the beauty of the game is the absence of a clock and everything that is possible.

The rays fell quickly in the lower half and a clean ninth of the SOX seemed inevitable. But the game is not over until all outs are recorded.

Everson Pereira stepped up with the bases loaded in the ninth thanks to two walks and a Seymour -Single, the rays at the back at eight. He turned on a throw and launched it high to the left. The ball was wearing, it wore a bit more and then it had disappeared. A Grand Slam, the second of his career, and suddenly the score was 11-7. The Dugout broke out, the fans woke up and began to drown out the Red Sox with hymns for the rays. , For one crazy moment the comeback felt it possible. Yandy hit a single, Mangum hit him and Josh Lowe came with the draw on deck. The margin, who had been dead fifteen minutes earlier, flowed over of hope and optimism.

And then, just as suddenly, it ended. Lowe waved through Strike Three, the Red Sox ran away with a 11–7 victory and eliminating the longshot -hops of the rays at stake after the season.
The rays still have two home games left during their stay in Steinbrenner Field. These two teams will be working again tomorrow with RHP Adrian Houser (8-4, 3.11) who takes the hill for the Rays opposition LHP Kyle Harrison (1-1, 4.05) for the Red Sox. The first pitch is planned at 7:05 pm.

Let’s see what will bring tomorrow.