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MATT MOORE |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Matt Moore shuts out the Red Sox
as Rays creep to 1/2 game out
July 22, 2013 ...
Right-hander Brandon Workman just happened to be pitching against the wrong guy on the wrong night in his second Major League start, and first at Fenway. He and the Red Sox fell to Matt Moore and the red-hot Rays, 3-0, in the opener of a four-game series.
Moore fired a two-hit shutout, the first of his career, and Tampa Bay made it 18 victories in the last 20 games to pull within a mere half-game of first-place Boston. If not for Moore's brilliance, the story of the night could well have been Workman.
While Moore (14-3, 3.17 ERA) mowed down the Red Sox, much like he's done to nearly every lineup he's faced this season, Workman settled into a nice groove. Sure, he struggled a bit in the first inning, throwing 29 pitches. But from that point forward,
he cruised. Over six innings, Workman scattered seven hits while allowing two runs. He walked two and struck out four. Considering that the Red Sox were coming off an 11-inning win over the Yankees on Sunday, it was big to get six innings from Workman.
Equally vital was the job out of the bullpen by Jose De La Torre, who went 2 2/3 innings, giving up a hit and a run while striking out three. Other than Craig Breslow, who recorded one out, the rest of the bullpen got the chance for a complete night of rest.
The Rays didn't score again until the fifth. Yunel Escobar led off with a walk, and Jennings sacrificed him to second. Ben Zobrist tapped one to short and narrowly beat the throw by Jose Iglesias for an infield hit. Loney again came through, this time with an RBI
single to right to make it a 2-0 game.
The way Moore was pitching, that deficit loomed large. The lefty gave up just one hit over the first six innings, a single up the middle in the second by Mike Napoli. David Ortiz tried to start something in the seventh by rifling a two-out single to right.
When Ortiz reached second on a passed ball, he was the first Boston runner to be in scoring position all night, but Napoli couldn't get him home, flying out to right to end the inning. As impressive as Moore has been all season, this performance might have
represented a breakthrough. |
