Sep 1, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher
Burke Badenhop(35) throws a pitch during the tenth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The Rays won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It took an extra inning on Labor Day afternoon for the Tampa Bay Rays to beat the Boston Red Sox as the teams split the series in Tampa. They will meet for the last time later this month in Boston.
Dustin Pedroia was out of the lineup again as a precaution and he will be out against the Yanks as well. Brock Holt was once more manning second base. Holt was 0-for-3 with one strike out.
Mookie Betts, on the other hand, knocked a pair of hits, scored a run and drove one in when he doubled to drove in Christian Vazquez.
Mike Napoli hit a home run to left-center field in the fourth inning. It was his 17th homer of the season.
In the eighth inning, Yoenis Cespedes hit a single which scored Mookie to tie the game. Cespedes has racked up 30 hits in 28 games since joining the Sox midseason. (Will Middlebrooks also has 30 hits, but he’s had 46 games in which to do it).
Rubby De La Rosa took the mound for the Sox. He lasted just 5.1 innings, leaving the game on the hook after allowing six hits and three earned runs. He had no walks but struck out only four batters. Tommy Layne finished the sixth inning without giving up a hit. Tazawa and Mujica each pitched for an inning without giving up a run. Craig Breslow started the ninth inning, getting James Loney out in five pitches.
Burke Badenhop finished up the ninth inning to send the game to extras, but he couldn’t get through the tenth. He earned the loss when Matt Joyce singled to score Sean Rodriguez.
Tuesday the Red Sox will be in the Bronx to take on the Yankees for three games, starting with Joe Kelly (2-3, 4.14 ERA) going against Shane Greene (4-1, 3.09 ERA).