Hunter Renfroe hit a go-ahead homerun in the eighth inning, and then ended the game with his MLB leading 16th outfield assist on Wednesday night as the Boston Red Sox salvaged the final game of a three game set with the Tampa Bay Rays with a 2-1 victory at Fenway Park.
The game was a stalemate and scoreless through seven as both starting pitchers didn’t allow anything on the scoreboard. Shane McClanahan in 5.0 innings and Nathan Eovaldi in 7.0 only allowed three hits each. Josh Taylor out of the Boston bullpen retired the first two Tampa Bay hitters in the eighth, before allowing a single to Brandon Lowe. Garrett Richards came into the game and walked Wander Franco, and Nelson Cruz made it 1-0 Rays with an RBI single to centerfield. Matt Wisler came out of the Tampa pen in the bottom half of the eighth, and allowed a leadoff single to Alex Verdugo. JT Chargois came on to pitch and got Kyle Schwarber to hit into a fielders choice and Kike Hernandez to line out to center. Renfroe then took the first offering from Chargois deep over the monster in left center to put the Sox in front 2-1. It was the 27th homerun for Renfroe. In the ninth, Hansel Robles struck out the first two men he faced before Joey Wendle hit a line drive to right center out of the reach of a diving Hernandez and past him. Renfroe though backed him up on the play, and fired a missile of a throw to cut down Wendle at third base to end the game.
Eovaldi walked two and struck out eight in his no-decision, with Richards (7-7) picking up the win in relief. Robles got his 12th save of the season. Renfroe and Lowe were the only batters in the game with multiple hits with two each. Chargois (5-1) was tagged with the loss and the blown save for 88-52 Tampa Bay. Boston is 80-62, and move 1/2 game ahead of the New York Yankees for the top American League Wild Card. The Sox head to Chicago for the start of a three game series with the White Sox on Friday night. RHP Tanner Houck (0-3, 3.26 ERA) is scheduled to start for Boston in the opener.
