In beating the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2, on Sunday, Red Sox pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez, Heath Hembree, Matt Barnes, and Joe Kelly struck out 21 Rays batters through the game’s first nine innings, breaking the record of 20 – most recently equaled by Washington’s Max Scherzer, who did so this season on his own – for a nine-inning game.
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Boston maintained a 5½-game lead over Toronto for the division title and ensured no worse than the AL’s second wild card.
Boston left eight men on base and gave Tampa the opportunity to get back in the game, although the threat did not seem risky given Rodriguez’s 13 strikeouts over five and a third innings. Any combination of two Red Sox wins and Blue Jays losses will seal up the division for the Red Sox.
Having right-hander Jake Odorizzi on the mound helps as he is 2-0 with a 1.01 ERA against Boston in four career starts at Tropicana Field. The Rays challenged the play, but officials upheld the call, giving the Red Sox a 3-2 lead and, eventually, the win. He had three hits and moved past Frank Thomas for 107th place on the career list with 2,469 hits. The relay throw home beat Pedroia by almost a full second.
ANGELS 10, ASTROS 4: Kole Calhoun had three hits and two RBIs, and Los Angeles scored nine runs in the final two innings. With Mookie Betts having singled home Xander Bogaerts in the first, it was only enough to tie the game for the Rays.
The Boston Red Sox are beginning to look like a team of destiny as they surge toward the American League East title. Pedroia was on base after hitting a single. The hit ended a string of 11 straight strikeouts.
PHILLIES 10, METS 8: The Mets fell behind 10-0 by the fourth inning, then fell short of what would have been the largest comeback victory in team history. Dustin Pedroia responded in the top of the third with a solo shot on a hanging changeup, and Rodriguez adamantly refused to let Tampa Bay get the run back while he was in the game.
The run began when Maile struck out for the second out in the fourth inning and continued until Forsythe singled to start the eighth.
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The San Francisco Giants later joined the Mets atop the NL wild-card standings by toppling the San Diego Padres 9-6, although they made hard work of it and required a big 10th inning after blowing a six-run advantage. It’s a slight increase from last year’s 1,247,668.
