Rays lose to 6-4 to playoff-bound Red Sox

Pedroia stopped an 0-for-17 skid with a single in the sixth and gave Boston a 6-3 lead with a seventh-inning drive off Danny Farquhar.

The Rays-Red Sox game was one of the most weird in recent memory, and it ended with Boston’s eleventh win in a row.

David Ortiz, and other Red Sox, reflect on death of Miami pitcher Jose Fernandez prior to their game against the Rays Sunday afternoon. He has 53 career home runs and a.307 batting average vs. the Bronx Bombers, which is the highest among any team with a minimum of.300 at-bats. Betts is hitting.444 (20-for-45) during a 12-game hitting streak.

Pitching has played a big role during the club’s current surge, punctuated by a record-setting performance in Sunday’s 3-2 extra-inning win when starter Eduardo Rodriguez and reliever Heath Hembree combined to strike out 11 straight batters, contributing to the staff’s 23 strikeouts on the day.

Sep 25, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Dustin Pedroia (15) avoids the tag to score the winning run.

“It’s not easy to play baseball as a 40-year-old”, Ortiz said Tuesday.

What’s a little amusing about this is that, while the Sox would be the last team to clinch, they’re also leading the AL race for home-field advantage.

Boston is on its longest September winning streak since an 11-game run in 1949.

David Ortiz was annoyed – with himself and New York Yankees rookie catcher Gary Sanchez.

Despite a stellar season, Ortiz said before the game there is no way he will change his mind about retirement. “The fans are very into every inning”. The Red Sox let me say what I feel.

One final link to the Yankees that highlights Ortiz’s iconic status is his inclusion on the ultra-short list of players with 500 home runs and at least three World Series titles.

Their sweep against the Yankees would not be their first sweep either. The Mariners remained 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the second wild card. “Our team has been fighting all year”, Mark Teixeira said, according to CBS Sports. “We definitely want the division going forward”.

The Red Sox finally broke the “curse of the Bambino” by taking down the Yankees in 2004, coming back from a 0-3 deficit to win the series.

In Toronto, the Blue Jays rallied to beat NY on a walk-off hit in the ninth inning. In 1990, a tired, buried-in-controversy edition of the Patriots closed out the season with a Foxboro Stadium showdown against the Bill Parcells-coached New York Giants, and, well, anyone who was there will tell you it was a virtual home game for the Tuna’s boys. “It felt good to win”. Price got a win against Baltimore in his last outing, going seven innings with six hits and three earned.

David Price has struggled mightily against the Yankees, posting a 1-2 record, 7.71 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in four starts vs. them this season. Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada also did not figure in the decision after allowing one run, four hits and two walks while striking out seven over seven innings.

Over on the Yankees’ side, we’ll be seeing RHP Luis Cessa in the start Tuesday.

Since entering the rotation August 20, he is 2-3 with a 3.83 ERA and allowed six hits or less in each outing and three runs or less in six of those starts.