The visiting Tampa Bay Rays will attempt to complete a three-game sweep Sunday when they meet the Boston Red Sox in the final game of the regular season for each team.
Tampa Bay (80-81) won 2-1 on Friday, and beat Boston 7-2 on Saturday. The winner of the game Sunday will finish third in the American League East.
Junior Caminero hit a two-run home run against Boston starter Kutter Crawford during the win Saturday. Crawford allowed 34 home runs this season, which is the most of any major league pitcher.
“If you look at his season overall it was a solid one,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “This is a kid … he understands how to pitch. Uses both sides of the plate. He can go up, he can go down. He’s a guy we expect him to keep getting better. He’s been good for us.”
Boston (80-81) has lost three in a row and scored four runs in those three losses.
Another positive for Tampa Bay on Saturday was the performance by reliever Drew Rasmussen, who didn’t allow a run over the final two innings. Rasmussen had elbow surgery last year and had a 2.83 ERA and 28 2/3 innings as a reliever this season.
“It wasn’t perfect (Saturday), but you just look back over where I’ve been over the last 18 months or so, and I’m truly just blessed to have the opportunity to be back playing on the field,” Rasmussen said. “Pretty good year, and we’re excited about things moving forward.”
Tampa Bay’s Ryan Pepiot (8-7, 3.64 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday for Tampa Bay. Boston is expected to go with right-hander Quinn Priester (2-6, 5.04), whom the Red Sox acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Nick Yorke on July 29.
“I don’t know if it’s official yet, but there’s a good chance it’s going to be (Priester),” Cora said in his postgame news conference Saturday.
It would be Priester’s first start with the Red Sox after spending the past two months working on his mechanics at Triple-A Worcester. Priester was 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in nine starts at Worcester, and 4-2 with a 4.38 ERA overall in 16 Triple-A starts this year.
“Ultimately making some mechanical adjustments that felt really natural and led to better performance of all my pitches,” Priester told MassLive.com. “And feeling that and seeing that just let the confidence build up to where it should be.”
Pepiot pitched well but took the loss in the Rays’ 2-1 setback against Detroit on Tuesday. He allowed two runs on three hits in five innings, walked four and struck out six. Pepiot has surrendered two earned runs or fewer in 12 of his past 13 starts.
Pepiot has no record and a 3.60 ERA in two career appearances (both starts) against the Red Sox. He recorded 15 strikeouts in 10 innings during those two starts.
It’s been a rough second half for the Red Sox, who were 10 games over the .500 mark at the All-Star break, but are 27-38 since then. Boston has a 37-43 home record and has been outscored by 33 runs in its home games. Tampa Bay has a 38-42 record on the road.
The Rays need a victory Sunday to avoid their first losing season since 2017.
–Field Level Media