G162: Red Sox 5, Orioles 4

Orioles - 003 000 010 - 4  6  2
Red Sox - 002 001 101 - 5 12  1

The 2019 Red Sox's season ended on a high (and, perhaps, wistful) note. Brandon Workman struck out the side in the top half and Mookie Betts scored on Rafael Devers's single in the bottom half. Betts had begun the inning with a walk. Devers's hit was his third of the day and 201st of the season.

Devers's chopper glanced off the glove of shortstop Richie Martin, who was playing on the right side of the infield. The ball rolled slowly into the outfield and when Betts saw right fielder Steve Wilkerson casually grab the ball and then ponder where to toss it, Mookie dashed for the plate, and scored easily.

The Red Sox finished with a record of 84-78, a drop of 24 wins from last season. They finished in third place in the AL East, 19 games behind the Yankees, and 12 games out of the Wild Card race.

Wilkerson had robbed Jackie Bradley of a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning, with a crazy, half-cartwheeling, catch worthy of JBJ himself, at the point in right where the bullpen wall ends and the short wall begins. Boston had runners on first and third with no outs in the inning, but Marco Hernández lined into a double play before Bradley's deep fly.

Matt Barnes coughed up the Red Sox's 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth, blowing the save of what would have been Eduardo Rodriguez's 20th victory of the season. Xander Bogaerts committed a fielding error and Barnes allowed a one-out single. After getting the second out, Barnes gave up a game-tying single to Jonathan Villar.

The Orioles took a 3-0 lead off Rodriguez (7-4-3-2-8, 115) when EdRo walked the leadoff batter in the third and gave up three consecutive hits with one out. The Red Sox quickly got two runs back, however. Gorkys Hernández tripled with one out and JBJ was HBP. Betts singled in Gorkys and Devers singled in Bradley. A wild pitch put runners at second and third, but Betts was tagged out at the plate on Bogaerts's grounder to short.

Boston tied the game in the sixth as Bogaerts walked, the Orioles made a pitching change, J.D. Martinez singled to right, a passed ball moved the runners up to second and third, Mitch Moreland walked, and Christian Vázquez singled. After another change of pitchers, the chance of additional runs was squandered as JDM was forced at the plate and the next two batters were retired.

The Red Sox had three batters finish with a batting average over .300 and 30+ home runs for the first time in history: Rafael Devers (.311/32), Xander Bogaerts (.309/33), and J.D. Martinez (.304/36).

Chandler Shepherd / Eduardo Rodriguez

Betts, RF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Vázquez, C
Holt, 2B
G. Hernández, LF
Bradley, CF

Pitchers have minimal control over whether they get a "win" - you can get a "win" by allowing eight runs, but not get a win by allowing zero runs in 7+ innings (that's happened 32 times this season) - but Rodriguez could be awarded his 20th win of the season today. If so, he would be the sixth Red Sox lefthander with 20 wins, and the first in 66 years!

Red Sox Lefthanders, 20-Win Seasons
Jesse Tannehill - 1904, 1905
Ray Collins     - 1914
Babe Ruth       - 1916, 1917
Lefty Grove     - 1935
Mel Parnell     - 1949, 1953

A counting stat that cannot be awarded until the game is over is suspect. You hit a double - and a double is immediately added to your stats. Same thing with stolen bases, strikeouts, even errors (though sometimes those are changed after the game is complete). But if you give up six runs in two innings, you have to wait at least seven more innings to learn if you got the loss (or the win!).

G161: Orioles 9, Red Sox 4

Orioles - 211 004 001 - 9 12  0
Red Sox - 300 001 000 - 4  9  0

The Red Sox rallied in the bottom of the first inning on Jackie Bradley's single and one-out, back-to-back home runs from Xander Bogaerts (#33) and J.D. Martinez (#36), but the Orioles tied the game in the next half-inning and took the lead for good in the third.

Baltimore kicked back and relaxed after battering Andrew Cashner for four runs in the sixth.

By the time Jhoulys Chacín (2.2-5-4-1-3, 60) had thrown four pitches, the Orioles led 2-0. Jonathan Villar doubled on the first pitch of the day and D.J. Stewart homered on a 1-1 fastball. As noted, Boston took a 3-2 lead, but Richie Martin homered in the second and Renato Núñez went deep in the third.

In the bottom of the fifth, trailing by only one run, the Red Sox got two-out singles from Rafael Devers and Bogaerts, but Martinez jumped on the first pitch and flied to right.

John Means / Jhoulys Chacín

Bradley, CF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Travis, LF
Holt, 1B
G. Hernández, RF
Owings, 2B
León, C

Chacín, with Red Sox

First three games:  5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB,  7 K, 0 HR, 22 BF,  0.00 ERA
Last two games:     6.1 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 3 BB, 11 K, 3 HR, 31 BF, 11.37 ERA

G160: Orioles 4, Red Sox 1

Orioles - 003 000 001 - 4  6  0
Red Sox - 000 000 001 - 1  6  1

The Red Sox ended the fourth inning with a runner gunned down at the plate. After that, the Orioles retired 12 consecutive batters until Rafael Devers led off the ninth with a double (#53). Xander Bogaerts knocked him in with a single, but any further thoughts of a last-inning rally fizzled when X was picked off first, and the next two batters were easy outs.

Nathan Eovaldi (5-3-3-4-3, 90) concluded his 2019 season with 16 home runs allowed in only 67.2 innings. With two outs in the third, Renato Núñez blasted a three-run dong. With the Red Sox last year, Eovaldi allowed only three home runs in 54 innings (for the entire year: 14 in 111 innings). Eovaldi also handed out 35 walks in his 67.2 innings, an appallingly high total. He passed only 20 in 111 innings last season.

The Red Sox had something going on in almost every inning against Asher Wojciechowski (6-4-0-1-6, 96). Bogaerts doubled with two outs in the first, but was stranded. Boston put two men on in the second, but Juan Centeno struck out. Mookie Betts singled to start the third, but Devers lined into a double play. In the fourth, Sam Travis was hit by a pitch and later was thrown out at the plate on Jackie Bradley's double off the bullpen wall.

The Red Sox were retired in order in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Over the seventh and eighth innings, five consecutive Boston batters struck out.

Asher Wojciechowski / Nathan Eovaldi

Betts, DH
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Holt, 2B
Travis, LF
Bradley, CF
G. Hernández, RF
Centeno, C

2019 will be only the second season in franchise history in which the Red Sox finish with a winning record overall, but with a losing record at home. They are 37-41 in home games (37-39 at Fenway and 0-2 in London). It also happened in 1980: 83-77 overall and 36-45 at home.

The Red Sox are 30-8 (.789) against the Orioles since September 1, 2017 (11-5 this year, 16-3 in 2018, and 3-0 in the final month of 2017).

The Red Sox have never finished a season with three players batting .300+ with 30+ home runs. Only nine teams have ever done that, with the 2004 Cardinals being the most recent. (The 1996 Rockies are the only team to have four players reach those milestones.)

                   AVG   HR
J.D. Martinez     .305   35
Xander Bogaerts   .305   32
Rafael Devers     .310   32
Mookie Betts      .294   29

Martinez (35), Bogaerts (32), and Devers (32) are only the third Red Sox trio ever with 30+ HR in a season, joining Jim Rice/George Scott/Butch Hobson (1977) and David Ortiz/Betts/Hanley Ramirez (2016).

The Red Sox are one Mookie Dong away from becoming the 15th team in history to have as many as four players hit 30+ home runs. The 2019 Twins are the only team to have five players hit 30+ home runs - and they are also the first team to hit 300 dongs in a season.

The Red Sox are the seventh team ever (and only the third team in AL history) with as many as four players with 70+ extra-base hits in a season: Devers (88), Bogaerts (83), Betts (74), Martinez (70). No major league team has ever had four players with 75+ extra-base hits in a season. (The 1999 Diamondbacks had four players with 74+ extra-base hits.)

Betts needs one home run to have 30+ homers and 40+ doubles for the third time in his career, joining David Ortiz (2004, 2005, 2007, 2016) as the only Red Sox players to do so. (Also, Betts and Nolan Arenado are the only two players with 70+ extra-base hits in each of the last four seasons.)

Christian Vázquez leads all American League catchers in hits (131) and extra-base hits (50), is tied for first in doubles (26), is second in RBI (71) and runs scored (66), and is fourth in home runs (23). He also leads all major league catchers with four pickoffs. And Vázquez is one of only six Red Sox catchers with at least 23 home runs in a season (Carlton Fisk, Jason Varitek, Mike Stanley, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Rich Gedman).

Boston's bullpen lead the majors with 10.49 K/9. (The Yankees are #2 at 10.22, with the Brewers #3 (10.19).) The last time the Red Sox led the majors was in 1974 (6.11 K/9).

Brandon Workman has the lowest opponents slugging percentage of any relief pitcher in the last 50 years (minimum of 50 IP). He's at .168, with Craig Kimbrel (.1721 in 2012) and Aroldis Chapman (.1724 in 2014) behind him.

The Red Sox enjoyed a historic left side of the infield this season.

Bogaerts (32 home runs, 51 doubles) and Devers (32 home runs, 52 doubles) are the first teammates in major league history with 30+ homers and 50+ doubles in a season.

Bogaerts (32 homers, 113 RBI) and Devers (32 homers, 115 RBI) are also only the second SS/3B duo to have 30+ homers and 110+ RBI in a season, joining Miguel Tejada (31/113) and Eric Chavez (32/114) of the 2001 Athletics.

Devers is the first major league player with 88+ extra-base hits in a season before turning 23 since Albert Pujols (88 in 2001). The last player at that age with more extra-base hits was Alex Rodriguez (91 in 1996).

Bogaerts is one of only three Red Sox shortstops with more than 50 doubles in a season (Joe Cronin, 51 in 1938; Nomar Garciaparra, 51 in 2000, 56 in 2002). Bogaerts is only two extra-base hits behind Garciaparra for the most ever by a Red Sox shortstop (X has 83; Nomar had 85 in both 1997 & 2002).

Devers (88) and Bogaerts (83) are 1-2 in the AL in extra-base hits (Marcus Semien #3 with 82).

Devers (52) and Bogaerts (51) are 1-2 in the AL in doubles (Semien #3 with 43 and Betts and Andrew Benintendi are two of four players tied at #5 (40)).

Devers (115) and Bogaerts (113) are 2-3 in the AL in RBI (Jose Abreu #1 (123), Jorge Soler #4 (112), and Alex Bregman #5 (110)).

Betts (134) and Devers (127) are 1-2 in the AL in runs scored (Semien #3 with 122).

G159: Rangers 7, Red Sox 5

Red Sox - 000 300 200 - 5 10  1
Rangers - 000 140 20x - 7  7  1

In their last road game of the season, the Red Sox blew a 3-0 lead, battled back to tie the game at 5-5, and then immediately gave away the game for good.

Events in the final two innings led to both managers accusing the other team of not giving 100%, of either speeding up the game (by consistently swinging at first pitches) and denying a pitcher a milestone strikeout or by slowing it down (deliberately letting an easily-caught foul pop-up fall untouched).

Mike Minor retired the first nine Red Sox batters, including striking out the side in the third inning. But Boston collected five hits and three runs in the fourth. Marco Hernández was safe on a bunt single to start the inning. Andrew Benintendi struck out, but J.D. Martinez and Sam Travis both singled (1-0). After Brock Holt hit into a force play, Gorkys Hernández doubled to left (2-0) and Jackie Bradley singled to short right (3-0).

Texas got one run back in the fourth and battered Mike Shawaryn in the fifth. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to right and stole second. Shin-Soo Choo struck out looking. Elvis Andris also singled to right and also stole second. Willie Calhoun walked and Danny Santana hit a grand slam to right-center. Shawaryn got the second out, but Nick Solak singled to center and (after Colten Brewer came in) stole second.

The Red Sox had a frustrating sixth inning: single, double play, single, groundout. They got two solo home runs in the seventh, by Bradley (#21) and Chris Owings (#3). That tied the game but the Red Sox squandered a chance at more runs. Juan Centeno singled with two outs and Martinez walked. A double steal put runners on second and third, but Sam Travis went down swinging.

Calhoun hit Ryan Weber's 1-1 pitch for a leadoff dong in the bottom of the seventh. One out later, Roughned Odor went deep, making it 7-5.

The Red Sox were retired on three pitches in the eighth. This does not happen very often, since if the first two guys hack away, it is almost a guarantee the third guy will take at least one pitch. Not this time. Holt grounded to first, Gorkys Hernández grounded out to shortstop, and Bradley popped to shortstop.

In the ninth, Minor (8.2-10-5-2-9, 126) struck out Owings for the second out (and his 200th K of the season) only because first baseman Ronald Guzmán deliberately dropped a foul pop (and was charged with an error).

Alex Cora was not amused: "I'm just happy our guys are playing the game the right way. We're playing hard until the end."

Rangers manager Chris Woodward countered by claiming the Red Sox were trying to keep Minor from getting his 200th strikeout by swinging at the first pitch: "It got gut-wrenching as a manager. I didn't love the idea that we dropped a popup at the end. But on the other side of that, they swung at three pitches in a row in the eighth inning down by two. ... They chose to not try to win the game as well, they were trying to keep him from striking a guy out."

Cora noted that both Bradley and Owings hit their home runs on the first pitch.

Woodward, who nearly pulled Minor in the seventh, sent Minor out for the ninth because he was pissed off at the three-pitch eighth: "I said you're going back out. If they want to do that, you're going back out. There was no question. It was only three pitches."

Minor: "I knew what they were doing. They were laughing about it. ... [On the foul pop] I knew it was going to be a two-strike count if he dropped it. So I yelled at Guzie to drop it."

Guzmán: "Honestly, on that play I was going for it. I wasn't exactly sure if it was gonna be fair or foul. And when I got close to it, I heard like the whole stadium telling me to drop it, so I just couldn't do anything else. They were making it really hard on him, swinging at the first pitch every at-bat, even though the game was close."

With one out to go, reliever Jose Leclerc was summoned, and he struck out Marco Hernández.

The Red Sox finish the 2019 season with three games against the Orioles at Fenway Park.

Travis Lakins / Mike Minor

M. Hernández, 2B      61
Benintendi, LF       100
Martinez, DH         138
Travis, 1B            71
Holt, 3B             106
G. Hernández, RF    (-21)
Bradley, CF           88
León, C               45
Owings, SS            18

OPS+: 100 = league-average hitter; 110 = 10% better than league-average hitter; 85 = 15% worse than league-average hitter, etc.

G158: Red Sox 10, Rangers 3

Red Sox - 032 002 102 - 10 12  0
Rangers - 300 000 000 -  3  7  1

The Red Sox fell behind by three runs after only six Rangers had batted (and Texas also had a runner thrown out at the plate). However, they immediately tied the game and went on to score ten unanswered runs, as Rick Porcello rebounded strongly from his shaky initial inning, allowing only two hits over the next five innings (6-6-3-0-8, 98). Porcello retired his last 11 batters.

Mitch Moreland went 4-for-5, including his 19th home run of the season. Christian Vázquez (#23) and Rafael Devers (#32) also went deep. Vazquez's shot in the third inning was the Red Sox's 239th home run of the season, setting a new franchise record, breaking the mark set by the 2003 club.

Devers's home run was his 87th extra-base hit of the year, passing Ted Williams and setting a new Red Sox record for a player 22 years old or younger. Devers's 32 homers ties him with Tony Conigliaro for the most home runs for the Red Sox in a season before turning 23.

It was the bottom of the order that tied the game in the second. J.D. Martinez singled, but was forced at second by Vázquez. Moreland singled and Gorkys Hernández walked. One run scored on Jackie Bradley's groundout to shortstop and Chris Owings single made it 3-0. In the third, Vázquez homered to center, with Xander Bogaerts aboard. Vázquez left the game in the middle of the third after experiencing tightness in his left hamstring.

Three Texas relievers were each rudely welcomed into the game. Brett Martin began the sixth, as Sandy León reached on an error and Moreland donged to right-center. Devers led off the seventh by blasting Jonathan Hernandez's second pitch over the wall in right-center.

Ian Gibaut started his outing in the ninth by walking Andrew Benintendi. Devers doubled and Benny scored on Bogaerts's fly to center. Then JDM singled in Devers. Gibaut also walked León before fanning Moreland. Texas played it safe, bringing in another pitcher, Taylor Guerrieri, to get the third out and hold the score at 10-3. It mattered not, as Andrew Cashner retired them in order in the last of the ninth.

AL East: The Rays beat the Yankees 4-0, holding the MFY to one lonely hit. New York also struck out 16 times, with Stanton/Judge providing some air conditioning at the Trop, going 0-for-7 with seven strikeouts. In two games against the Rays this week, the Yankees have scored one run in 21 innings, while striking out 29 times. Sounds they are just about in playoff shape ...

Rick Porcello / Kolby Allard

Benintendi, LF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Vázquez, C
Moreland, 1B
G. Hernández, RF
Bradley, CF
Owings, 2B

Last night, in Arizona:

Cardinals    - 100 000 000 000 100 000 0 - 2 13  0
Diamondbacks - 000 000 001 000 100 000 1 - 3 13  2

It was the longest game by innings and the second-longest by time (6:53) in Diamondbacks' history (though the longest game by time ever played at Chase Field). The Diamondbacks set franchise records for pitchers used in a game (13) and players used (30).

It was only the second game in major league history that both teams recorded 21+ strikeouts (Cardinals pitchers struck out 23 batters, while Diamondbacks pitchers fanned 25). The 48 combined punchouts tied the major league record, set on May 7, 2017, when seven Yankees struck out 26 batters in a 5-4 win in 18 innings over the Cubs (whose eight pitchers combined for 22 strikeouts).

Ildemaro Vargas became the first player since at least 1920 (when RBIs became official) to drive in a game-tying run in the ninth inning and then record a walk-off RBI in the 19th inning or later. Vargas hit a pinch-hit home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Ten innings later, Arizona got two leadoff singles, followed by two strikeouts. Then the Cardinals made the highly-questionable decision to intentionally walk Christian Walker (he was 0-for-4, with three strikeouts and a BBI in the 17th) and pitch to Vargas (who was 3-for-5). Vargas grounded the first pitch into left for a game-winning single.

G157: Red Sox 12, Rangers 10

Red Sox - 411 240 000 - 12 14  0
Rangers - 410 022 100 - 10 15  2

All 10 batters for the Red Sox had at least one hit and scored at least one run. Only six of them drove in runs, however, with J.D. Martinez leading the way with three, and Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley chipping in two apiece.

Eduardo Rodriguez (5-11-7-3-6, 113) was allowed to pitch long enough to qualify for the win, his 19th of the season. Both the 11 hits and seven runs were season-highs (and by "highs", I mean lows). But: W! ... It was also the Red Sox's 82nd victory of the season, assuring them of finishing 2019 with a winning record.

The Rangers were down by seven runs, 12-5, at one point, battled back to within two, and threatened in the eighth inning. Matt Barnes walked the first two batters in that frame, allowing Texas to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. But Barnes was just teasing Texas (I guess), because he struck out Roughned Odor and Scott Heineman and got Jose Trevino to fly out to center. In the ninth, Brandon Workman issued a two-out walk to Elvis Andrus before Willie Calhoun grounded out to first.

Each team batted around in the first inning. Rafael Devers singled with one out, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Bogaerts's single. Another wild pitch put Bogaerts on second and Martinez knocked him in with a single. Mitch Moreland grounded out, but Andrew Benintendi reached on an infield single and Christian Vázquez walked. Jackie Bradley doubled home two runs and Vólquez (0.2-5-4-1-0, 27) was replaced by Ariel Jurado, who got the third out.

Rodriguez had two outs and runners on first and third, but crumbled. He walked Danny Santana to load the bases and he walked Odor to force in a run. Heineman's single made it 4-3 and Trevino's single tied the game.

Mookie Betts hit his 29th home run of the year to dead center in the second inning. Rodriguez gave up a leadoff triple to Delino DeShields and Andrus hit a sac fly. (Betts injured his left foot in the bottom of the second when he crashed into the wall chasing DeShields's triple. He was limping as he chased the carom and was replaced in right field before the bottom of the third.)

The Red Sox kept scoring. They got one run in the third when Mitch Moreland doubled and ended up scoring on an infield error. Marco Hernández and Gorkys Hernández singled to start the fourth and Devers doubled Marco home. Gorkys scored on Bogaerts's sac fly. The Rangers left the bases loaded in the fourth against EdRo.

In the fifth, Gorkys Hernández hit a bases-loaded sac fly, a run scored on a wild pitch, and Martinez hit a two-run single. (The Red Sox also received three walks in the inning, along with a Texas error.)

Rodriguez allowed two more runs in the fifth, Marcus Walden allowed two in the sixth (on three hits and a walk), and Andrew Cashner gave up one in the seventh.

There were six wild pitches in the game, four from the Rangers.

Eduardo Rodriguez / Edinson Vólquez

Betts, RF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Benintendi, LF
Vázquez, C
Bradley, CF
M. Hernández, 2B

G156: Rays 7, Red Sox 4

Red Sox - 011 200 000 - 4 10  0
Rays    - 000 601 00x - 7  8  0

Ji-Man Choi, Brandon Lowe and Willy Adames all homered in the fourth inning as the Rays erupted for six runs, wiping out Boston's 4-0 lead.

With one out, Jhoulys Chacín (3.2-4-4-1-5, 57) gave up two singles and a three-run dong to Choi. After a groundout, Lowe blasted a solo shot. Bobby Poyner took over, hitting Kevin Kiermaier and giving up Adames's two-run homer.

Jackie Bradley went 3-for-4. He singled in the second, stole second, and scored on Marco Hernández's double. In the third, Bradley doubled in Mitch Moreland, who had also doubled.

The Red Sox scored twice after two were out in the fourth. Devers and J.D. Martinez each singled in a run, but Boston left the bases loaded in that inning (Bradley ended things with a strikeout). The Rays set the Red Sox down in order in three of the next four innings.

And: Mookie: "I didn't know I could do that. It's fun to do stuff that you didn't know you could do."

When even Mookie surprises Mookie. pic.twitter.com/AWK8WNNBtk

— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 24, 2019

Jhoulys Chacín / Blake Snell

M. Hernández, 2B
Betts, RF
Devers, 3B
Martinez, DH
Travis, 1B
Bradley, CF
G. Hernández, LF
Owings, SS
León, C

It makes no difference at this point, I know, but seeing a guy with a .279 on-base percentage at the top of the lineup just pisses me off. (It's .302 for his career.) There is absolutely no reason ever to do that.

David Price will have surgery on his left wrist on Thursday. A cyst developed in the wrist in July. Through July 14, Price had a 3.16 ERA in 17 starts. After that, in his final five starts, his ERA ballooned to 9.47 and he pitched only two innings after August 4. Manager Alex Cora said the team wants Price "to get it over with and ... start the offseason, quote unquote, the right way".

At his home in the small town of Demopolis, Alabama, Butch Hobson was thrilled that Rafael Devers had broken his Red Sox record for home runs in a season by a third baseman. Hobson hit 30 in 1977; Devers has 31 with seven games left on the schedule.

That's awesome. I'm excited for him. I haven't seen every game he's played, but that young man has plenty of opposite-field power and I like that. He's a heck of a hitter. ... He always plays with a smile on his face and I like that. Baseball should be fun. ... His ability to take that fastball to left field is what makes him so dangerous.

Hobson notes that he actually should have hit 32 homers in 1977: "Al Bumbry robbed me of a home run in Baltimore and I had another one at Fenway that hit a bar holding up that net over the wall and they called it a double. George Brett told me the next day that it went over. But what can you do?"

Alex Cora mentioned "the struggles of September" (Devers has hit only .213 this month, as opposed to .351 in May and .358 in July) and said:

He'll take [that] home and he'll understand what they're trying to do. He'll be better because of that. [Could Devers hit 40 homers*?] We'll see. I like the fact that he hit 50 doubles, too. Some of those doubles are going to turn into home runs. I don't want to put a number on it but I know that he's a force offensively.

*: In 104 games since May 20, Devers has hit 28 homers, which projects to 43.6 over 162 games.

Back in the spring, Cora assured everyone that Devers had learned a lot and made adjustments after his 2018 season - and that was certainly true. His OPS has increased from .731 to .910 and he leads the majors with 341 total bases. Watching Devers's continued maturation as a hitter will be one of the more exciting aspects of 2020.

G155: Red Sox 7, Rays 4

Red Sox - 400 200 100 - 7 11  0
Rays    - 111 000 001 - 4  9  2

Christian Vázquez went 3-for-5, including a long three-run blast in the first inning and J.D. Martinez went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs. ... Nathan Eovaldi: 6-7-3-2-6, 100.

The damage was done by the first five batters in the order: they went 9-for-22, scored all seven runs, and had all five RBI. Batters 6-9 were only 2-for-17 (and both hits came in the first inning).

The Red Sox sent 10 men to the plate in the opening frame. Jackie Bradley struck out, Rafael Devers singled, Xander Bogaerts singled, Martinez singled (1-0), Vázquez homered (4-0), Travis singled, Gorkys Hernández fouled to first, Chris Owings singled, Juan Centeno was HBP, and JBJ was called out on strikes.

Boston scored two runs in the fourth on a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch. The run in the seventh scored on an error.

Nathan Eovaldi / Ryan Yarbrough

Bradley, CF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Vázquez, 1B
Travis, LF
G. Hernández, RF
Owings, 2B
Centeno, C

The Rays won't need 11 innings to beat this lineup.

G154: Rays 5, Red Sox 4 (11)

Red Sox - 000 100 020 01 - 4  7  1
Rays    - 002 000 100 02 - 5  9  0

Nate Lowe hit a two-run, walkoff home run to lift the Rays over the Red Sox by a 5-4 score in 11 innings for the second consecutive day. Boston played extra innings (and lost) for the third time in the last five games.

Mitch Moreland had hit a solo shot in the top of the eleventh, but Josh Smith could not do his job in the home half. Travis d'Arnaud doubled to left and Johnny Davis went in as a pinch-runner. Lowe then homered on a 2-0 fastball (91 mph) that could not have been more down the middle of the plate if Smith had tried.

Singles by d'Arnaud and Joey Wendle gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead, but Xander Bogaerts homered (#31) to lead off the fourth and, after Willy Adames hit a solo dong in the seventh, Rafael Devers belted his 31st homer of the year in the eighth.

Devers's 31 home runs is the most ever by a Red Sox third baseman, topping Butch Hobson's 30 in 1977.

This is actually the first time I'm hearing of this, so it's pretty cool ... but there's more records I want to try to continue to break. ... I actually had a conversation with [Hobson] at [Red Sox Winter Weekend in January]. And Bogey was the one that told me he was a really good third baseman.

Bogey said that, did he? ... Hmmm. Did Bogey happen to mention that Hobson committed 43 errors in 1978, that his fielding percentage that season was actually below .900? (That's not easy to do, but I guess if your brain-dead gerbil-manager mindlessly runs you out there day after day, anything is possible.) In six seasons with Boston, ol' Mr. Bone Chips was never even an average third baseman. He was -12 Total Fielding Runs in both 1977 and 1978 and -34 for his Boston career.

Thankfully, Bogaerts is a better hitter than he is a Red Sox historian. X also doubled (#51) in the first inning. ... Matt Barnes struck out the side in the ninth. ... Brandon Workman walked the leadoff man in the tenth, which is fast becoming a pattern. (He has allowed a walk or a hit in each of his last six appearances.) After two strikeouts, the runner was thrown out trying to steal.

The Red Sox struck out 16 times, with J.D. Martinez (0-for-5) and Marco Hernández (0-for-4) each going down by way of the K four times. Moreland fanned three times.

Boston used 11 pitchers, which set a team record for a game of 11 innings or fewer. The Red Sox used 10 pitchers in a 10-8 win in 11 innings over the Orioles on September 18, 2017. (Workman and Barnes pitched in that game, as well.)

In games of any length, the Red Sox used 11 pitchers only four days ago against the Giants (15 innings) and they used 12 pitchers on September 5, 2017 against the Blue Jays (19 innings).

Travis Lakins / Tyler Glasnow

Betts, RF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Holt, LF
Vázquez, C
Bradley, CF
M. Hernández, 2B

G153: Rays 5, Red Sox 4 (11)

Red Sox - 000 000 202 00 - 4  7  0
Rays    - 000 000 310 01 - 5  8  0

Mitch Moreland hit two home runs, knocking in all four Boston runs, and Rick Porcello (6-3-0-0-6, 87) was Vintage Shroom, but Trevor Kelley walked two batters with two outs in the eleventh and then gave up a game-losing single to Willy Adames (3-for-5, 2 RBI).

Charlie Morton matched Porcello for six innings, allowing only three hits and one walk and striking out seven. Morton could not salt the game away, however, In the seventh, Brock Holt doubled with one out and Moreland hit Dong #16 to center.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Red Sox bullpen ran into its own trouble. Darwinzon Hernández's biggest flaw is his control and that inability to throw strikes was on display Friday night. After giving up a one-out single, Hernández walked Jesús Aguilar and Michael Brosseau on nine pitches (though Ball 2 to Agular should have been called a strike by plate umpire Paul Nauert and perhaps Ball 4 to Brosseau should have been, too). With the bases loaded, Marcus Walden got a force at second, but a run scored and Adames tied the game with a ground-rule double to right. Josh Taylor's wild pitch allowed the Rays to take a 3-2 lead.

Andrew Cashner issued a leadoff, four-pitch walk to Austin Meadows, who scored on Ji-Man Choi's one-out double to right field. But the Red Sox were not quite done. Gorkys Hernández began the ninth inning with a triple to right and, after Brock Holt lined to center, Moreland hit Dong #17 to left. Adames singled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Ryan Brasier retired Joey Wendle to send the game into extras.

Both teams were retired in order in the tenth. Holt walked with two down in the eleventh, but lightning did not strike thrice for Moreland, who fanned. Kelley got two fly outs on six pitches in the bottom half, but never found the third out.

The loss would have officially eliminated the Red Sox from the postseason if they had not already been barred by virtue of Cleveland's win over the Phillies.

Rick Porcello / Charlie Morton

Betts, DH
Vázquez, C
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Benintendi, LF
Holt, RF
Moreland, 1B
Bradley, CF
M. Hernández, 2B

As the always-entertaining Jayson Stark would say ... Baseball!

Have you checked your major-league WHIP leaders lately? We'll save you the trouble. They look like this:

Justin Verlander: 0.789
Gerrit Cole:      0.908
Zack Greinke:     0.998

So … notice anything those three guys have in common? Right you are. They all pitch for the same team – those noted ace collectors, the Houston Astros. And how many teams have ever finished a season with three qualifying starting pitchers with a sub-1.00 WHIP? That would be none – in modern history, anyway. (Quibblers alert: The 1884 St. Louis Maroons, of the old United Association, actually had four with a WHIP under 1.00. But big deal. They got to pitch from 50 feet away from the plate back then!) ...

It's Sept. 20, and the Detroit Tigers have won 21 games at Comerica Park all season. The other four teams in their division have won 20 in Comerica, and they just get to stop by a few times a year! (You know how many times the Tigers have won at home on back-to-back days this season? That would be exactly two! One was April 6 and 7, in the second and third home games of the season. The other was Aug. 8 and 9. You know how many times they've done that against teams not known as "the Royals?" That would be zero!) ...

[I]f the Tigers don't win at least two of their final seven home games (against the White Sox and Twins) they're going to finish with the worst record at home of any team since the 162-game schedule became a thing nearly six decades ago:

TEAM          W-L    PCT
1962 Mets    22-58  .275
2019 Tigers  21-54  .280
2013 Tigers  23-58  .284 ...

It was awesome enough that Cavan (Son of Craig) Biggio went cycling Tuesday – and allowed the Biggios to join the Wards (Gary and Daryle) as the only father-son cyclists in history. ... [Cavan] came to the plate with two outs in the ninth in the same position as about a billion other players in history – a triple away from the cycle. But then … he actually hit that triple! ...

Only one other time in the past 129 cycles (dating back 35 years) has any player finished off his cycle that way – via a triple with two outs in the ninth. The guy who hit the other one: Eric Byrnes, on June 29, 2003. (Quibblers alert! If you're one of those sticklers who thinks we should look at two-out triples in the ninth inning or later, then we could add Rondell White (13th-inning triple, on June 11, 1995) to this little club.) ...

Ever heard of a playoff team that went a month without a save – in August and September? Meet the Nationals, who just found a way to perform that astonishing trick. Didn't have a save between Aug. 16 and Sept. 17 – and were still in position to host the wild-card game when they came out the other end of it. ...

That comes to 28 consecutive games without a save. And how many playoff teams in the division play era have ever done that this late in a season? That would be zero, according to STATS. How many have done it at any point in any season? Just two, if you don't count the 1981 strike-year split season (2000 Cardinals: 28 games (July 13-August 11) and 2015 Blue Jays: 34 games (May 5-June 10)). ...

From Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats): "Yu Darvish has 24 strikeouts over his last 9 innings pitched." So who's the last starting pitcher to strike out 24 hitters in nine innings? That would be nobody, obviously. And STATS combed through 45 years' worth of play-by-play data back to 1974 and found that no relief pitcher had done it, either. Closest call: 23, by Josh Hader (last September) and (Kirby Yates, in April-May of this year). Amazing. ...

[T]ake a look at the Yankees' totals for the season (so far):

Home Runs – 292
Doubles   – 277

Yep, leave it to the Yankees to make doubles obsolete. If they keep this up, they would be only the fourth team since 1900 to have this many more homers than doubles!

TEAM           HR   2B
1961 Yankees  240  194
1956 Reds     221  201
1962 Tigers   209  191 ...

A hat tip to NBC Sports Chicago's Chris Kamka for chronicling this unbelievable feat from Cody Bellinger this year: He has hit 45 home runs… Off 45 different pitchers!

So who else has ever done that? No one has ever done that. Of course! And only Albert Pujols (in 2015) has ever even hit as many as 40, off all different pitchers. ...

[A]ll of this happened, in actual life, over the past eight days:

TWO RUNS ON A STRIKEOUT? It's challenging enough to reach base on a strikeout, let alone score two runs. But the Dodgers pulled that off Sept. 12 in Baltimore, thanks to the largesse of Orioles starter Dylan Bunday, who never did get around to covering home in the midst of a two-run strikeout/passed-ball fiasco. Seeing is believing!

SCORING FROM FIRST BASE ON A WALK? Kids, don't try this at home, either. But it happens. Bryan Reynolds drew a walk at Wrigley last Friday. Then the Cubs took turns throwing the baseball all over Chicago. Willson Contreras started it, by trying to throw out Kevin Newman "stealing" second – on ball four. And the next thing they all knew, Newman had scored from first on a walk. Whaaaaat? Take a look at this Bad News Bears outtake!

HOW NOT TO APPEAL? Maybe the Pirates felt guilty about that Kevin Newman run, because on Sunday, they returned that favor, with a play I’ve never seen – the old wild throw while just trying to appeal a stinking call at third base! ...

SOUTH SIDE STORY – How about this for innovative ways to lose, from your Chicago White Sox over the past week: Get 20 hits Tuesday … four of them leave the park … still lose to the Twins, 9-8. According to Chris Kamka, they were undefeated (14-0) in 20-hit, four-homer games in franchise history before that … because of course they were!

Same game: Homer in the top of the 11th inning … then homer in the top of the 12th inning … and still lose! How hard is that to do? So hard, reports Doug Kern, that no team had hit a home run in the top of two different extra innings and found a way not to win in over 30 years – since the Padres did that in the 11th and 13th innings in Montreal, on May 24, 1988. ...

And before we go, here's one final outrageous tidbit about the Giants' visit to Fenway Park this week. If you had a tough time recalling their last win at Fenway before that 15-inning extravaganza Tuesday, maybe that's because… There's almost nobody in America who was alive to see the last one!

The Elias Sports Bureau told us it was the Giants' first win at Fenway since June 3, 1915, back when the Giants played in New York, the Braves were the team they played in Fenway, Woodrow Wilson was president and Babe Ruth was a rookie pitcher with two career home runs. ...

Is it possible the Giants were the first big-league team ever to go 104 years between wins at any ballpark ever built? And that answer is: Yessir! The previous record was held by the Cubs, which sounds about right. They once went a mere 93 years without winning at Fenway – between Game 5 of the 1918 World Series (Hippo Vaughn shutout) and May 21, 2011 (Sean Marshall win in relief of Carlos Zambrano). Didn't you need to know that? Of course you did!

G152: Red Sox 5, Giants 4

Giants  - 100 000 021 - 4  6  2
Red Sox - 230 000 00x - 5 10  2

Eduardo Rodriguez (6-2-1-2-10, 107) was sharp yet again, allowing only an unearned run. Rodriguez has allowed five earned runs in his last seven starts (45 innings, 1.00 ERA).

Xander Bogaerts drove in three runs and Rafael Devers knocked in two as the Red Sox held on by their fingernails to beat the Giants on Thursday afternoon. Brandon Workman loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, but "saved" the game after walking in a run.

Each of the top four hitters in the Boston lineup had two hits. Andrew Benintendi and Christian Vázquez each scored twice.

The Red Sox took charge when the first four batters in the first inning reached base against Madison Bumgarner (5-9-5-2-7, 102). Benintendi doubled to right-center, Vázquez walked, and Dvers and Bogaerts each hit a run-scoring single.

(It was Benintendi's 40th double of the season, giving the Red Sox four players with 40+ doubles for the first time in team history (Mookie Betts, Benintendi, Bogaerts, Devers).)

In the second, the Red Sox changed things around, making two outs before hitting four straight singles. Benintendi and Vázquez set the table. Devers knocked in one run and Boagerts brought in two more.

I love those kinds of innings, but not when the opposition does it, as the Giants did in the eighth. Marcus Walden got two outs, then walked Mauricio Dubon, and gave up a single to Mike Yastrzemski and a double (and two runs) to Kevin Pillar. Matt Barnes relieved Walden and walked Evan Longoria. Buster Posey got an infield single, loading the bases, before Barnes struck out Stephen Vogt.

Workman nearly imploded in the ninth. Brandon Belt hit the first pitch and reached on an infield error. Christhian Adames singled to right and Chris Shaw walked. ... Time for a mound visit! ... Brandon Crawford (cbf) struck out looking. Yastrzemski (csfb) struck out swinging. Pillar (bsbb) walked, and Belt scored. Workman then struck out Longoria (cbbcbs).

If you give a shit about pitchers and wins, EdRo has 18.

The Red Sox are 24-8 in Rodriguez's starts this year. Houston's Gerrit Cole is the only other pitcher to start as many as 24 team wins (the Astros are 24-7 in Cole's starts).

Madison Bumgarner / Eduardo Rodriguez

Benintendi, LF
Vázquez, C
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, DH
Holt, 1B
G. Hernández, RF
Bradley, CF
Owings, SS
M. Hernández, 2B

Bats in September: .213/.290/.357.

Record: 6-9. Runs scored: 55. Runs allowed: 72.

Elimination # for Wild Card Race: 1.

G151: Giants 11, Red Sox 3

Giants  - 301 000 025 - 11 15  0
Red Sox - 000 001 101 -  3  6  1

Rafael Devers broke up Jeff Samardzija's no-hit bid with two outs in the sixth inning by hitting his 30th home run of the season, a line drive to right. It was the hardest hit ball of the game, by either team, with an exit velocity of 111.1 mph.

(Devers's groundout to third in the fourth inning was the second-hardest hit ball of the night (110.5).)

Devers and Xander Bogaerts are the first teammates in major league history with 30+ homers and 50+ doubles each in the same season (Devers 30/50; Bogaerts 31/50).

Devers is the 11th player in major league history with 30+ home runs, 100+ RBI, and 100+ runs scored in a single season before turning 23. He's one of only three major league players ever with 50+ doubles in a season at age 22 or younger.

Devers leads the American League with 84 extra-base hits; Ted Williams holds the Red Sox record for a player before turning 23 (86 in 1939).

Devers's 30 homers are the most by a Red Sox player at age 22 or younger since Tony Conigliaro hit 32 in 1965. ... He is also one of only four Red Sox players with 100+ RBI before turning 23 (Ted Williams (3 times), Bobby Doerr, Jim Rice).

Among Red Sox third basemen all-time, Devers holds the record for most extra-base hits in a season (83), is tied with Butch Hobson (1977) in home runs, and is one double away from tying Wade Boggs, who had 51 in 1989.

Oh – the game. It was as good as over in the top of the first. Jhoulys Chacín (2.2-5-4-2-6, 72) gave up a walk and a double to begin the night. He got two outs, but then Stephen Vogt hit a three-run dong. ... Samardzija was pulled after giving up a hit to start the seventh (6-2-1-4-2, 99). ... Jackie Bradley hit his 20th home run in the ninth (the original call of a triple was overturned).

Jeff Samardzija / Jhoulys Chacín

Benintendi, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Vázquez, DH
Holt, RF
Moreland, 1B
Bradley, CF
M. Hernández, 2B
León, C

David Price will not pitch again this season.

Alex Cora called Tuesday's 15-inning loss "our season in six hours".

Close games, we didn't hit with men in scoring position, we didn't pitch well in the beginning but then we pitched well. We played good defense but then we didn't. ... [E]xtra-inning games, using the bullpen knowing we have a bullpen day maybe tomorrow, it's been like that the whole season.

Two major league records were tied last night: 13 pitchers used by the Giants and 24 pitchers used by both teams.

G150: Giants 7, Red Sox 6 (15)

Giants  - 103 100 000 000 101 - 7 14  0
Red Sox - 010 013 000 000 100 - 6 14  1

Juan Centeno had drawn a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the thirteenth to tie the game at 6-6. Two innings later, he had a chance to tie things again (at 7-7) or, possibly, win the game. Boston had runners on first and second with one out and Centeno's flair to shallow center was sinking roughly where Rafael Devers's single had fallen a few minutes earlier. But this time, Kevin Pillar was able to dart in and make a diving, rolling catch. Brock Holt hit a line drive, but it was right at second baseman Mauricio Dubon for the third out.

The Red Sox erased three of the Giants' leads (1-0, 5-1, 6-5), but their luck eventually ran out. San Francisco used 13 pitchers, tying a major league record set by the Rockies in a 16-inning win over the Dodgers on September 15, 2015. In the thirteenth, the Giants had four pitchers pitch to four consecutive Red Sox batters.

Mike Yastrzemski homered off Nathan Eovaldi (4-7-5-3-6, 86) in the fourth inning, giving the Giants a 5-1 lead. Jackie Bradley led off the fifth with his 19th homer. In the sixth, Sam Travis pinch-hit for J.D. Martinez (who left with left groin tightness) and tripled to right. Travis was hit in the head by the throw to the bag and was replaced by Gorkys Hernández. Mitch Moreland and Christian Vázquez followed with back-to-back doubles with one out, cutting the Giants' lead to 5-4. Vazquez stole third as Bradley struck out and scored on a passed ball by Stephen Vogt.

The Red Sox wasted an opportunity in the seventh, when Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers both singled and were bunted to second and third, and old friend [sic] Fernando Abad came in from the SF bullpen. Holt was called out on strikes and Moreland grounded to short. Moreland then had a chance to win the game in the ninth, after G. Hernández singled and took second on a wild pitch and Holt was intentionally walked. But all Moreland could manage was a dribber in front of the plate and he was out catcher-to-first.

Matt Barnes walked two in the tenth, but stranded the runners, thanks to Marco Hernández's diving stop on Donovan Solano's grounder. Both teams hit into a double play in the twelfth. Pillar singled to start the thirteenth against Andrew Cashner. Brandon Crawford doubled to left, scoring the run, but he was also thrown out at third, 7-6-2-5. With one out in the bottom of the inning, M. Hernández singled off Sam Selman. Andrew Benintendi fouled off two pitches, then took four balls. Burch Smith came in and got ahead of Bogaerts 0-2, but X singled to right-center. Bases loaded.

Wandy Peralta was the next Giants pitcher and he struck out Devers. Giants (over)manager Bruce Bochy replaced Peralta with Kyle Barraclough (because why have all those pitchers put uniforms on if they aren't going to play?), and Centeno pinch-hit for G. Hernández. The first pitch was close, but a ball. The next two were in the dirt. After a gimme strike, ball four was wide. And the game was tied 6-6. On a 2-2 count, Holt swung at ball 3 and grounded harmlessly to third.

M-Yaz hit a ground-rule double to right to open the fourteenth against Brian Johnson. Brandon Belt flied to left and Even Longoria was walked intentionally. Vogt struck out and Trevor Kelley got Pillar on a ground ball to the mound. Sandy León singled with one out, but nothing happened.

Donovan Solano doubled to right in the fifteenth (also a ground-rule hit). Kelley wild-pitched him to third and he scored on Alex Dickerson's long fly to center. Dubon reached on Bogaerts's throwing error (Moreland could not scoop his low, half-assed throw) but M-Yaz popped out to third.

Dereck Rodríguez was in his second inning of work in the home half of the fifteenth. Benintendi grounded to third, but Bogaerts walked and Devers blooped a single to center. However, as mentioned, Centeno flied/popped to short center (ignore Gameday's misleading "lines out to...") and Holt smacked a 2-0 pitch right at Dubon.

Logan Webb / Nathan Eovaldi

Benintendi, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Martinez, DH
Holt, RF
Moreland, 1B
Vázquez, C
Bradley, CF
M. Hernández, 2B

Mookie Betts says an MRI shows inflammation in his left foot, but he hopes to play again this season. The Red Sox have 13 games remaining on the schedule.

The Giants' lineup features Mike Yastrzemski leading off and playing left field. Yastrzemski has started 40 games each in left and right (and one in center). Mike Yaz is 29, having been born one day after his grandfather Carl turned 51.

Dongtown: Six teams have set new single-season franchise home run records this year: Astros, Dodgers, Twins, Yankees, Padres, Cubs.

Michael Silverman (longtime Red Sox reporter for the Herald and the co-author of Pedro) is now at the Globe, where he will write about "the intersection of sports with business, politics, entertainment, technology and a few other spots".

G149: Red Sox 6, Phillies 3

Red Sox  - 104 001 000 - 6  6  0
Phillies - 010 011 000 - 3  7  1

Christian Vázquez hit two home runs, including the first grand slam of his career, and drove in five runs. It was also the catcher's first multi-home run game.

Rick Porcello (5-5-2-1-6, 76) showed a strong curveball, getting six swings and misses after having no more than one swinging strike in any of his last three starts.

Boston got on the board immediately as Andrew Benintendi began the game with a single off Jason Vargas (3-3-5-1-6, 71). Xander Bogaerts grounded back to the mound and Vargas's throwing error put Red Sox at second and third. Then Vargas hit Rafael Devers. Bases loaded, no one out. Scoring only one run was a squander of sorts, as J.D. Martinez hit a sacrifice fly and the next two batters were quietly retired.

After striking out the side in the second (and watching Rhys Hoskins tie the game with a solo dong off Porcello), Vargas faltered again in the third. Benintendi was hit by a pitch, Bogaerts singled to left, and Martinez walked with one out. Moreland struck out, but Vázquez sent a 2-1 knuckle curve just over the fence in left.

First career grand slam for Christian Vázquez! pic.twitter.com/TdIbuwsMqn

— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 15, 2019

Bryce Harper and Phillies manager Gabe Kapler were both ejected by plate umpire Gabe Morales for pointing out Morales's incompetence in ringing up Harper on a 1-2 pitch well inside and out of the strike zone.

Vázquez homered to left in the sixth, his 21st of the season. SN had the chance to do more damage in the eighth when he batted with JDM on second and Moreland on first, but he lined out to left.

Rick Porcello / Jason Vargas

Benintendi, CF
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Martinez, RF
Moreland, 1B
Vázquez, C
Travis, LF
Owings, 2B
Porcello, P

Chris Owings, 2019:  .095/.174/.143, .317 OPS
R. Porcello, career: .186/.186/.233, .419 OPS

G148: Red Sox 2, Phillies 1

Red Sox  - 000 000 101 - 2  6  0
Phillies - 000 000 100 - 1  5  0

Eduardo Rodriguez struck out 12 Phillies (6.2-4-1-1-12, 105) as the Red Sox squeezed out a 2-1 win on Saturday night.

Rodriguez battled Aaron Nola (7-4-1-3-9, 103) through six scoreless innings. He allowed a two-out single in the second and a two-out double in the fourth. Nola retired the first 10 Boston batters before Xander Bogaerts singled to right in the fourth.

Gorkys Hernández led off the sixth with a single to right and Rodriguez bunted him to second. But Marco Hernández lined out to right and Bogaerts struck out swinging.

Both teams scored a run in the seventh. Rafael Devers walked and went to second on J.D. Martinez's single. Mitgh Moreland fanned, but Christian Vázquez doubled Devers home for a 1-0 lead. Jackie Bradley walked to load the bases, but Gorkys Hernández grounded to third and JDM was forced at the plate. Then Rodriguez struck out.

After the stretch, Bryce Harper singled before Rodriguez rallied, striking out both Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery. Then things went sideways. Cesar Hernández singled to center, Adam Haseley was hit by a pitch, and Rodriguez walked Maikel Franco to force in a run (not one of the four balls was close). Josh Taylor came out of the pen and struck out pinch-hitter Phil Gosselin, stranding three baserunners.

In the bottom of the eighth, Matt Barnes gave up a leadoff single to Jean Segura, who promptly stole second. J.T. Realmuto grounded out to shortstop and Segura had to stay put. Harper was walked intentionally and Barnes wriggled out of trouble, getting flyouts to right and center.

Moreland started the ninth with a single off Hector Neris; Chris Owings pinch-ran. Vázquez singled, putting men at first and third. Bradley lined out to shortstop, but pinch-hitter Brock Holt walked on four pitches, loading the bases. Andrew Benintendi batted for Barnes and lifted Neris's first pitch to left for a sac fly, as Owings scored.

Brandon Workman walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the ninth (Cesar Hernández), but the Phillies could not advance him from first. Haseley was called out on strikes, Jay Bruce flied to right, and Logan Morrison went down swinging.

Eduardo Rodriguez / Aaron Nola

Betts, RF M. Hernández, 2B
Devers, 3B Bogaerts, SS
Bogaerts, SS Devers, 3B
Martinez, LF RF
Moreland, 1B
Vázquez, C
Bradley, CF
G. Hernández, 2B LF
Rodriguez, P

Peter Abraham, Globe: "Betts has a sore left foot. ... Betts will get checked out by a doctor but the belief is it's not something serious."

Top 10, Most Runs Scored, Season, Red Sox

150 - Ted Williams, 1949
142 - Ted Williams, 1946
141 - Ted Williams, 1942
139 - Jimmie Foxx, 1938 
136 - Tris Speaker, 1912
135 - Ted Williams, 1941
134 - Ted Williams, 1940
131 - Mookie Betts, 2019
131 - Dom DiMaggio, 1950
131 - Ted Williams, 1939

Betts is also tied for 13th place, with 129 (2018).

G147: Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 4

Red Sox   - 021 100 201 - 7 12  0
Blue Jays - 000 020 011 - 4  7  3

Xander Bogaerts collected his 50th double of the season in the top of the third inning on Thursday.

With Rafael Devers also having hit 50 doubles, it's the first time in Red Sox history two teammates have had 50+ doubles in the same season. And the 2019 Red Sox are only the third team since 1947 to have two or more players with 50+ doubles (1996 Mariners, 2000 Rockies).

Bogaerts is also only the second player in Red Sox history with a 30/50 season (David Ortiz, 2007) and only the second shortstop in history (Alex Rodriguez, 1996).

No major league team has ever had two players with 30+ home runs and 50+ doubles in a season. Bogaerts has 31 home runs and 50 doubles and Devers has 29 home runs and 50 doubles. The Red Sox have 15 more games for Raffy to go deep one more time.

No major league team has ever had four players with 75+ extra-base hits. The Red Sox could be the first: Devers (83), Bogaerts (81), Mookie Betts (73), J.D. Martinez (70). Devers and X rank 1st and 2nd in the majors.

Betts went 3-for-5 against the Blue Jays, stealing his 15th base of the year and scoring two runs. Bogaerts and Brock Holt each had two hits, with Martinez chipping in with a double and drawing Boston's only two walks of the night.

Marco Hernández's two-run double in the second got the Red Sox on the board against Clay Buchholz (4-7-4-1-4, 80). Back-to-back "Baltimore dongs" by XB and JDM made it 3-0 and Juan Centeno singled home Jackie Bradley to give Boston a 4-0 lead.

The Red Sox currently have a 20-man pitching staff, so using nine pitchers, as Alex Cora did tonight, was no big deal. Only one of the nine threw more than 23 pitches: starter Jhoulys Chacin (2.2-2-0-2-3, 48). After Chacin, Darwinzon Hernández, Josh Taylor, Brian Johnson, Ryan Brasier, Andrew Cashner, Marcus Walden, Matt Barnes, and Brandon Workman all toed the slab, as some people still say.

Jhoulys Chacin / Clay Buchholz

Betts, RF
Holt, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Benintendi, LF
Moreland, 1B
Bradley, CF
M. Hernández, 2B
Centeno, C

Since being traded after the 2016 season, Clay Buchholz has pitched in only 26 major league games, two with the Phillies (2017), 16 with the Diamondbacks (2018), and eight with the Blue Jays (2019). (He also started three games in the Royals minor league system in 2018.)

Buchholz was successful in Arizona, with a 2.01 ERA, including a 0.89 ERA in his last seven games (40.1 innings). He has made three starts for Toronto since coming off the injured list (right shoulder inflammation) in late August. Buchholz, who turned 35 about one month ago, has never pitched against Boston. Manager Alex Cora was the Red Sox's shortstop when Laptop made his major league debut on August 17, 2007.

The Red Sox (76-70) need at least six wins in their final 16 games to finish above .500. They have lost their last five games and seven of their last nine. At this point last season, they were 100-46.

The Red Sox managed only two singles last night, so their streak of consecutive games with an extra-base hit ended at 159, the fourth-longest streak since 1900. The 2004-05 Red Sox hold the major league record (164 games).

The Red Sox have hit .186 in their last seven games, and have scored 0 or 1 run in four of the seven games (1, 6, 1, 5, 0, 3, 0).

Mookie Betts has 28 home runs. Two more dongs will make Betts the sixth player ever with 30+ homers, 40+ doubles, and 5+ triples in as many as three seasons (2016, 2018). The other five players are in the Hall of Fame: Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Hank Greenberg, Chuck Klein, Rogers Hornsby.

Betts leads both leagues with 129 runs scored. No Red Sox player has scored 130 runs in a season in the last 68 years (since 1950). Betts could become the only Red Sox player other than Ted Williams to score 140+ runs in a season. He is on pace for 143.

G146: Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 0

Red Sox   - 000 000 000 - 0  2  1
Blue Jays - 000 260 00x - 8 11  1

The Red Sox managed two singles at Skydome on Wednesday night, one in the first inning and one in the ninth.

Wilmer Font (2-1-0-0-2, 23) pitched the first two innings for Toronto, before Trent Thornton threw five no-hit innings, striking out seven (5-0-0-1-7, 75). Jason Adam and Ryan Tepera took care of the eighth and ninth, respectively.

After Rowdy Tellez hit a two-run dong off Trevor Kelley in the fourth, the Blue Jays unloaded on Ryan Weber and Travis Lakins in the fifth. With one out, Weber surrendered singles to Danny Jansen, Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio, loading the bases. Vladimir Guerrero singled home two runs (4-0). Brian Johnson retired Tellez, but Lakins gave up a two-run double to Randal Grichuk (6-0) and a two-run homer to Teoscar Hernández (8-0).

Rafael Devers singled to left with two outs in the first inning, but J.D. Martinez flied to right. Christian Vázquez reached base on an infield throwing error with two outs in the second. He also stole second base, but was stranded as Jackie Bradley struck out. Xander Bogaerts walked with two outs in the third before Devers fanned.

Devers was the first of 16 straight Red Sox batters to be retired. In that time, the score changed from 0-0 to 0-8. Boston's streak of futility was snapped when Brock Holt singled to lead off the ninth. But the next three batters - Chris Owings, Devers, and Martinez - each grounded into a fielder's choice and a force out at second base.

AL Wild Card: TBR +0.5, OAK –, CLE 0.5, BOS 10.0.

Bobby Poyner / Wilmer Font

Holt, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Martinez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Benintendi, LF
Vázquez, C
Bradley, CF
M. Hernández, 2B

Bobby Poyner is the Red Sox's 15th starting pitcher this season, the most since 1958 (18).

Sean McAdam (Boston Sports Journal) offers one (reasonable) explanation of why the late Sunday night firing of Dave Dombrowski happened when it did.

Dombrowski was never thought of as a long-term solution as general manager (or "president of baseball operations"). His contract was up at the end of 2020 and with several important roster decisions in the immediate future (Mookie Betts being #1) and the task of rebuilding the farm system, the ownership group did not want Dombrowski in a lame-duck position next season, making decisions that his successor would have to live with for years.

The Red Sox were going to let Dombrowski go at the end of this season, but last Sunday night, according to McAdam, Dombrowski pressed someone in the ownership group for clarification on his future. There was a hastily-called meeting and

Dombrowski was told he would not be returning for the final year of his contract and he eventually left the ballpark.

After informing Dombrowski of the decision, the Red Sox had planned to keep the news from going public Sunday night and scheduled a press release for Monday.

But then some hints of the firing began showing up on social media. In some areas of the ballpark, workers got word of the move and began spreading the news.

The Red Sox scrambled to issue the news on their own, doing so shortly after midnight. The firing was made official on Monday. As McAdam writes: "Sunday wasn't the first time that Dombrowski had sought some clarification on his future from ownership — merely the last."

McAdam adds that Dombrowski felt he was underpaid ($2.5-$3 million annually), both relative to his accomplishments and in comparison to other GM-level men in the game, such as Theo Epstein of the Cubs and Andrew Friedman of the Dodgers, who are both paid more than $7 million annually.

AL Wild Card: TBR +1.5, OAK –, CLE 0.5, BOS 9.0.

G145: Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3

Red Sox   - 100 020 000 - 3  8  0
Blue Jays - 001 120 00x - 4  9  0

Mookie Betts hit the first pitch of the game off the left field foul pole - a true leadoff home run, the 14th of his career - but the Blue Jays came back and won 4-3 on Tuesday night.

(Betts has also hit six home runs as the first batter in the bottom of the first inning, but those are not "leadoff" home runs. Ignore anyone who says Mookie has hit 20 leadoff homers.)

Toronto led 2-1, when Devers doubled (#50) with one out in the top of the fifth. Devers is the youngest Red Sox player to hit 50 doubles in a season, the eighth Red Sox player overall, and the first since Dustin Pedroia had 54 in 2008. J.D. Martinez followed with a ground-rule double to left, thanks to fan interference. Devers scored to tie the game. With two outs Andrew Benintendi singled to center, scoring JDM.

But as been the case so often during this depressing season, the opposition immediately wiped out the Red Sox's lead. After Nathan Eovaldi (4.1-6-3-2-6, 93) walked Cavan Biggio and struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Josh Taylor gave up a two-run dong to Rowdy Tellez.

The Red Sox were retired in order in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. With one out in the ninth, pinch-hitter Brock Holt singled off Ken Giles. Gorkys Hernández ran for Holt and stole second. Giles struck out Marco Hernández, but he walked Betts. Devers got ahead 2-0 and eventually knocked a 2-2 pitch to center, where Jonathan Davis made the game-ending catch.

AL: The Yankees lost 12-11 to the Tigers, after blowing leads of 6-0, 8-6, and 11-10. ... The Astros outscored the Mariners 36-1 on Sunday and Monday, but were routed 21-7 by the Athletics this evening.

AL Wild Card: TBR +1.5, OAK –, CLE 0.5, BOS 9.0.

Nathan Eovaldi / T.J. Zeuch

Betts, RF
Devers, 3B
Martinez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Benintendi, LF
Vázquez, C
Bradley, CF
Owings, SS
M. Hernández, 2B

Tonight is T.J. Zeuch's second major league appearance and his first start. On September 3, the 24-year-old right-hander pitched four innings of relief against Atlanta, giving up three hits, two walks, and two runs. Blue Jays catcher Beau Taylor said Zeuch's debut was "absolutely amazing".

Zeuch made his AAA debut with the Buffalo Bisons on June 22, pitching 5.2 scoreless innings. On August 9, he threw a complete-game no-hitter, walking one and hitting a batter.

AL Wild Card: TBR +1.5, OAK –, CLE 0.5, BOS 8.0.

G144: Yankees 5, Red Sox 0

Yankees - 000 010 301 - 5 12  0
Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  7  0

The Red Sox, champions of the American League East for the past three seasons, were officially eliminated from the division race on Monday night.

And for the first time in 117 years, the Red Sox and Yankees finished a season with no games against each other decided by one run.

David Ortiz threw out the night's first pitch, his first public appearance since being shot on June 9.

First of all, I want to thank God for giving me a second opportunity in my life to be able to be here with all of you. I want to thank the Red Sox, my real family, they have always been there for me, supported [me]. With what happened to me, they were the first supporting me. Thank you very much, Red Sox family. ...

I want to thank all of you for all the prayers, all of them came home. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much. I want to thank my former teammates for being there for me. And also, all of them came home to check on their boy. Also, I want to thank the Yankees, a lot of my boys over there came over to check on Big Papi. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. God bless you all. Go Sox.

The Red Sox trailed 1-0 after six innings, thanks to a solid performance by Eduardo Rodriguez (6-5-1-1-9, 117). Darwinzon Hernandez gave up a home run to start the top of the seventh and could not finish the inning, allowing two doubles, a single, a wild pitch, and two more runs.

Jackie Bradley went 3-for-3 and Christian Vázquez had two hits. Boston left 10 men on base and went 0-for-7 with RATS.

Astros Score 36 Runs In Two Games: On Sunday, the Astros beat the Mariners 21-1. On Monday, the Astros beat the Mariners 15-0. Houston hit six home runs in the first two innings on Monday, something never done by a major league team before.

AL Wild Card: TBR/OAK –, CLE 1.0, BOS 8.0.

James Paxton / Eduardo Rodriguez

Betts, RF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Vázquez, C
Travis, 1B
Holt, 2B
G. Hernández, LF
Bradley, CF

As noted yesterday, the Red Sox and Yankees have never had a season series – not once in 116 years – without at least one game decided by a single run. 2019 could be the first season, as tonight's game is the final contest of the year between these two teams.

The Red Sox are 5-13 against the Yankees in 2019 (scores, with wins in bold):

0-8, 3-5, 1-4, 3-5, 8-5, 13-17, 8-12, 19-3, 10-5, 9-5, 6-9, 2-4, 2-9, 4-6, 4-7, 6-1, 1-5, 5-10

Only 4 of the 18 games have been decided by two runs and fewer than half (8 of 18) have been decided by two or three runs.

If the Red Sox lose tonight, they will be mathematically eliminated from the AL East race.

AL Wild Card: TBR/OAK –, CLE 1.5, BOS 8.0.

G143: Yankees 10, Red Sox 5

Yankees - 022 220 002 - 10 13  0
Red Sox - 002 200 010 -  5  9  3

The Yankees hit two two-run homers off Rick Porcello (4-7-6-0-1, 73) and won easily. Gleyber Torres (3-for-5, 4 RBI) went deep in the second and Tauchman homered in the fourth.

Porcello has given up 30 dongs this year, the second-most of his 11-year career. (He allowed an MLB-worst 38 in 2017.) Going back to the beginning of July, only two of Porcello's 12 starts have been dong-free.

Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley went deep for Boston. ... Rafael Devers committed three errors.

For the second consecutive game, the Red Sox had only two plate appearances with runners at second and/or third. They went 0-for-2 on Saturday (both in the eighth inning) and 1-for-2 on Sunday (both in the fourth inning).

In this latest loss, the Red Sox put only one runner on base after the fourth inning: Betts's homer leading off the eighth.

Elsewhere: The Astros beat the Mariners 21-1. They also out-hit them 22-1.

AL Wild Card: TBR/OAK –, CLE 1.5, BOS 8.0.

Masahiro Tanaka / Rick Porcello

Betts, CF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Benintendi, LF
Holt, 2B
Moreland, 1B
León, C
Bradley, CF

Sarah Langs @SlangsOnSports:

The Red Sox and Yankees have yet to play a 1-run game against each other this season.
They've been playing each other since 1903. They've *never* had a season series that didn't feature at least one 1-run game.
They have two games left against each other this season.

AL Wild Card: TBR/OAK –, CLE 1.5, BOS 7.0.