Game of the Week: April 17: TB @ BOS

[Commissioner Erick]

Tampa Bay Rays (6-7) @ Boston Red Sox (5-7)


TB: Chris Archer (1-2, 2.08)
BOS: Rick Porcello (0-0, 4.09)


On one level, the Boston Red Sox haven't been that bad. Despite being 5-7, they've lost four one-run games showing that they've had potential to be better than their record. On another level, the team is still under .500 with numerous players underperforming. The hope is that their star players will start breaking out of their collective funks, the way Hanley Ramirez is doing.

Ramirez has helped Boston take two of the first three games in a four-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays. He had three hits and an RBI in Saturday's 6-0 win. Yesterday, he cranked two home runs to help Boston knock off the Rays 8-5. Before that stretch, he was hitting .171 without a home run, culminating in an 0-4, two strikeout performance in a 4-2 loss to Tampa Friday night. Ramirez is tasked with a lot of fun-producing responsibility in the Red Sox lineup, and it's no surprise they're 2-0 with him playing well and 3-7 with him scuffling.

Next, Boston will need its contingent of starters not named Chris Sale to get themselves together. Sale's been better with every start, but the team is still carrying a 4.28 ERA. Rick Porcello will take the hill tonight and he's had a bizarre stat line to begin the year. He's only struck out five hitters, hasn't walked anybody, but also has kept the ball in the park. He's giving up ground balls over 60% of the time, but hitters have a .348 average against him, and a .381 BABIP, despite only two extra base hits surrendered.

It's an extreme ball-in-play dependent profile. Porcello got some strikeouts his first game to be at least respectable, and he pitched 7 innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts. In his last start, he worked only 4 innings, struck out only one, and allowed 10 hits and four runs.

Porcello will face some pressure as Craig Kimbrell has struggled to start the year, and is now dealing with a sore shoulder. Officially listed as day-to-day, Kimbrell has walked five and fanned four in four innings this year. He's working with a 2.25 WHIP and 6.75 ERA.

Boston will definitely be working without Dustin Pedroia, who tore his thumb. Pedroia has been hitting well this year, much better than he's fielded. The Red Sox will likely move Jose Ramirez over to second and start Pablo Sandoval, but they also have Brock Holt and Josh Rutledge in Triple-A.

Tampa Bay may be a reasonable cure for Porcello as they lead the AL in batting strikeouts. Tampa Bay is sixth in runs, though it's not clear why. They're middle of the pack in most categories, but bad in batting average. Outside of Wilson Ramos, nobody is excelling while Brad Miller, Khris Davis, and Kevin Kiermaier are downright struggling.

Meanwhile, two starting pitchers are down, scuttling Alex Agrawal's plans for a four-man rotation. It's unclear if Chris Archer will get the start tonight, or if the Rays will call up a player from their minors. Either way, Agrawal's proclimation that the Rays were darkhorse contenders looks ways away from being prescient.

What they have had is an excellent bullpen. Alex Colome has not allowed a run in 7 standout innings. Xavier Cedeno has allowed three runs in 9.2 innings, while Jumbo Diaz has allowed just one in 7. Erasmo Ramirez has been exceptional, yielding only two runs, while striking out 11 and walking just one over 11.1 innings. If the Rays can continue to shorten games for their bullpen, then who knows. Maybe you can mark the team down as a darkhorse contender.

Questions for the GM's:

For Alex Agrawal, Boston is been hot the last couple of days thanks to Hanley Ramirez. What do you do to slow him down.

Your offense has been okay so far, but maybe getting more runs on the board than it deserves. Who do you need to see step it up for it to take off, and what happens if that doesn't happen?

All teams in the AL East are within a game of one another. What do you think will be the deciding factor in who takes the crown?

For Keegan Mackinnon, with Dustin Pedroia heading to the disabled list, who takes his roster spot and his spot in the lineup, and why?

Porcello has had a very weird year so far. Do you think his avoidance of the three-true-outcomes is for real or will he settle into numbers more akin to the rest of baseball?

Craig Kimbrel has really struggled so far, and now he's hurt. Do you think he's pitching with something more serious and will you put him on the DL?

[alextb]

1. Chris Archer is going to start the game for us and we believe he'll be key to slowing down the Boston offense. We just need to score runs for him.

2. We go when Kiermaier goes. he's struggling to find his rhythm right now but I have no concerns over him, he'll be fine. Davis needs to cut down on strikeouts and take a more simple approach to his at bats. Luckily no one else in the division is running away so we're right there. We have time to figure it out.

3. Pitching, it always comes down to how your pitching is. I feel confident with Archer heading our rotation and we eagerly await Cobb's return.

[keeganredsox]

1) With Dustin going to the DL, the odds are in favour of Jose Ramirez taking his spot at second base, resulting in a call up for Brock Holt to take over at 3B.

2)It is still too early in the season to make any sort of comment on Rick's pitching, of course it would be nice if the numbers keep coming like this but one will never know.

3) It's looking like Kimbrel may have a short DL stint make sure he is healthy and it might be what he needs to get him back on track.

[Commissioner Erick]

Red Sox 13 - Rays 4


WP: R. Porcello
LP: C. Archer
SV: S. Wright


On a soggy, sloppy night in Boston, Chris Archer pitched well until the rain delay and Rick Porcello pitched well after the rain delay. Good thing for Boston, the rain came early.

Rick Porcello weathered through a 51-minute rain delay and three early errors, Chris Archer was ineffective after the delay, and the Boston Red Sox clobbered the Tampa Bay Rays 13-4 to take the four game series.

Tampa Bay jumped out to a 3-0 lead, taking advantage of a dreary field and dreary Boston defense. With Dustin Pedroia on the disabled list, Boston got weird with its defense, keeping Jose Ramirez at third, shifting backup catcher Sandy Leon to second, and slotting Rusney Castillo behind the plate. With the ground soaked, Ramirez committed two errors in the first three frames, Sandy Leon booted a ball, and Boston had three runs on the board, despite two runs being unearned.

Meanwhile, Chris Archer looked dominant, going through the first two innings without allowing a hit and striking out three, keeping his fielders from having to handle the slick baseball.

Then the umpires decided they had seen enough and paused the game, allowing the heaviest rain to pass. Porcello stayed sharp after the delay. Archer did not.

The first batter Archer faced after the delay, Johnny Gomes, clubbed a double to left. He came around to score on a Leon double making it 3-1. The next half inning saw Archer allow four hits, a walk, a smoked grounder that turned into a double play, and an error behind him. By the time he was pulled, Boston had a four-spot in the inning, and Archer, with diminishing velocity, was yanked.

Porcello, meanwhile, was sharp. He struck out Rickie Weeks Jr. as his first batter after the delay, setting up a scoreless fourth. He worked around a Khris Davis double in the fifth with two more strikeouts. He gave up two hits in the sixth to plate a run, but altogether, he wasn't fazed too badly with the delay. Somehow, a Red Sox defense that committed three errors before the third despite a number of ground balls.

Tampa Bay's defensive miscues were just getting started.

After Ryan Yarborough did damage control in the fourth and breezed through the fifth, he walked Johnny Gomes to start the sixth. Brad Miller booted a sure double play ball, and Jose Ramirez stroked a single to extend Boston's lead to 6-4. Yarborough got a strikeout and fielder's choice to get the Rays to the precipice of escape, before handing the ball to Tommy Hunter. Matt Duffy booted the third out of the inning though, allowing a run to score, making it 7-4. Jackie Bradley Jr. followed with a ground single past Duffy to make it 8-4 Boston, a comfortable lead they'd never relinquish.

Ramirez cracked a three-run home run in the seventh, Mookie Betts added a solo shot, and the Red Sox blasted Hunter in running up the score. All told, they put up 13 runs and 15 hits to win 13-4. Jose Ramirez had two home runs and six RBIs for Boston.


Questions for the GMs


For Alex Agrawal, Hanley Ramirez was thoroughly cooled off and went 0-5, and Archer did look sharp early on. However, he really wasn't effective after the rain. Could the four man rotation be adding undue fatigue to him?

There were a number of ground balls that god past your infielders, despite a slow, soggy field. Brad Miller committed two errors and is up to five on the year now. Can you win with defense like that from your infielders?

You didn't attempt a single steal despite Rusney Castillo behind the plate. Granted, it was tough to get good jumps, but why not take advantage of Castillo?

For Keegan Mackinnon, Porcello walked his first batters of the season and gave up his first home run of the year. He also struck out a season high five batters and weathered terrible defense early to win the game. Was there anything about his performance today that stood out from other days?

You played a very strange defensive alignment and it really bit you early. Did your manager bot simply screw up the instructions?

Jose Ramirez committed a couple of errors, but also had two home runs. What did you have in mind when you acquired him from Cleveland?

[keeganredsox]

You always have to give up your first HR at some point during the season, now it's out of the way. The 5K's in the ballgame is just the start of Rick showing us that he's not afraid to go after hitters. Overall it was solid performance for him.

I like to experiment from time to time, less defence, for more power, visa versa. I was please with how well this worked even with the shaky defence at first.

Acquiring him from Cleveland gave me a solid all around 3B. Granted his defence was not at it's best showing today but his display of power was awesome to watch.

[Commissioner Erick]

LOL, backup catcher at second base sure is an experiment