ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Boston Red Sox entered Saturday night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays playing their best baseball of the year. The American League East leaders had won nine straight and opened a comfortable lead over their closest competitors, the Toronto Blue Jays. They were doing this without much help from leadoff man Dustin Pedroia. However, in order to push their streak to double digits, they needed the veteran to break out of his current funk.
Spoiler alert: He did and the streak reached 10.
Pedroia had just three hits in 41 at-bats during the front nine of the streak. This included an 0-for-15 stretch he carried with him into Saturday's game at Tropicana Field. That quickly turned to 0-for-17 after his first two plate appearances.
To his credit, the 33-year-old did not carry the slump into the field. With the Red Sox ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning and a runner on third and one out, Boston had its infielders back, conceding the tying run for an out at that stage of the game. Rays right fielder Mikie Mahtook smoked a 102 mph ground ball to Pedroia, who, despite playing near the outfield grass, fired home to get the out on a fielder's choice.
"A good, smart anticipative play on his part," Red Sox manager John Farrell said after the game. A batter later, third baseman Brock Holt made a fine, backhanded play to end the inning.
Though he temporarily escaped that time, the Rays eventually got to the league's leader in wins, Rick Porcello. The 22-game winner gave up three runs in 6â…“ innings. That snapped a personal streak of 11 straight starts with seven or more innings pitched while allowing three runs or fewer. That mark tied him with Boston legends Pedro Martinez and Cy Young for the longest such stretch in team history.
“I feel like I had good stuff. I definitely made a lot of mistakes, especially early on in the game and the inning when they scored those runs. I had to settle back down and start executing my pitches better," Porcello said after the game.
Led by Pedroia, the Red Sox's offense went to work in the top half of the seventh to get Porcello off the hook.
Trailing 3-2 and following singles by Hanley Ramirez and Holt to start the inning, Chris Young advanced both runners on what equated to a swinging bunt.
As left-handed Jackie Bradley Jr. walked to the plate, Rays manager and former Red Sox catcher Kevin Cash did his former team a favor by bringing in lefty reliever Dana Eveland. Eveland owns the highest ERA among AL relievers with at least 20 innings at 8.74. That number is backed by his inability to throw strikes, having walked 17 batters in 22â…“ innings. He promptly walked Bradley on four pitches to load the bases with one out. After a fielder's choice cut down the tying run at the plate, Pedroia stepped up with the bases loaded and two out.
When asked what his mindset was, Pedroia offered a simple approach: "hit the ball hard."
Pedroia quickly fell behind Rays reliever Danny Farquhar 0-2 before engaging in a lengthy battle that included a foul tip that was nearly the final out of the inning. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Pedroia unloaded on an 87 mph changeup, smashing a grand slam to left-center field to put Boston up 6-3, officially busting the slump.
Pedroia had snapped his hitless streak in the previous inning, singling to left. Though the hit didn't lead to any runs, Farrell said the single "maybe allowed him to exhale."
“I threw some good pitches. He battled," Farquhar said. "Then got his pitch and crushed it."
Before the seventh, Boston struggled to get much against Rays starter Matt Andriese, who was lifted after just 76 pitches in six innings. Mookie Betts, however, reached base twice against him. In doing, so he stretched his on-base streak on the road to 37 games and his hitting streak to 11 games -- the longest active streak in the AL.
Betts also scored the Sox’s first two runs of the game, giving him 119 this season. That ties him with Kris Bryant and Josh Donaldson for most in the majors. He also continues to lead the league in hits (208) as he looks to become the first Boston player to lead the league in this category since Wade Boggs in 1985 -- seven years before he was born.
The Red Sox's bullpen was stellar again in relief of Porcello. Farrell used five relievers for the second consecutive night to finish the game. The final two, Koji Uehara and Craig Kimbrel, finished off the victory. Uehara ran his scoreless streak to 13 appearances and Kimbrel converted his 18th straight save and 30th overall this season. He did allow a solo home run to Logan Forsythe.
The win reduces the Red Sox’s magic number to clinch the AL East to three. They need a combination of three wins or Blue Jays losses to clinch and just one victory or Baltimore Orioles' loss to at least clinch a share of the second American League wild card.
