ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- You know things are breaking right for a team when it goes 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and still wins, the way the Boston Red Sox did in their 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday night.
The last time the Sox went at least 0-for-12 with RISP and won was April 24, 2004, when they beat the Yankees, 3-2, in 12 innings even though they went 0-for-19 with RISP. The Sox scored all of their runs in that game on sacrifice flies, one each by Manny Ramirez, Pokey Reese and Mark Bellhorn.
Tuesday night, the Sox won on a throwing error by Rays rookie second baseman Ryan Brett, who threw away a double-play relay after a hard takeout slide by Mookie Betts. The batter on the play, Dustin Pedroia, was credited with a fielder’s choice.
The Sox left nine runners on base Tuesday night. They left runners on base in scoring position in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth innings. Other than Ryan Hanigan, however, only one other Sox runner advanced as far as third Monday night: Shane Victorino, who hit an opposite-field double to open the ninth and was bunted to third by Brock Holt. But that’s as far as he got, as Hanigan struck out and Betts flied to left.
Seven different Sox batters did not have a hit with runners in scoring position. Victorino was 0-for-3, David Ortiz and Pedroia 0-for-2.
The Rays, who left five runners on base, only had one at-bat with runners in scoring position, and Red Sox reliever Alexi Ogando took care of that, inducing Desmond Jennings to ground into a bases-loaded force play with the bases loaded in the sixth.
