ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kevin Kiermaier blasted a walkoff two-run homer against Hansel Robles to lead the Rays to a 3-2 victory over the Red Sox here at Tropicana Field on Saturday.
Bobby Dalbec broke up a combined no-hit bid with an opposite-field RBI triple to begin the 10th inning in one of the wildest games of the 2022 MLB season so far. Six Tampa Bay Rays pitchers no-hit the Red Sox through nine innings. J.P. Feyereisen, Javy Guerra, Jeffrey Springs, Jason Adam, Ryan Thompson and Andrew Kittredge combined for 9 scoreless and hitless innings. They allowed five walks and struck out five.
Dalbec’s triple (97.1 mph off the bat) scored the extra-inning ghost runner. Christian Vázquez added an RBI sac fly to make it 2-0.
The Rays were down to their final out when Taylor Walls reached on a throwing error by Trevor Story with two outs in the 10th. That scored the ghost runner to cut it to 2-1. Kiermaier’s blast made it 3-2.
Boston’s pitching was almost as dominant as Tampa Bay’s, allowing only three hits to the Rays.
There were only five hits in the game, which remained scoreless entering extra innings. Dalbec connected on an 0-2 slider from Matt Wisler and drove it 322 feet to right field.
Garrett Whitlock, Austin Davis, Kutter Crawford and Tyler Danish combined for nine shutout innings for the Red Sox.
Whitlock dominates
Garrett Whitlock The Starter was as dominant as Garrett Whitlock The Reliever.
Whitlock, who entered with a 1.84 ERA in 50 relief outings (83 innings), made his first career MLB start against the Rays here Saturday.
He retired the first nine hitters he faced. He tossed 4 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks while striking out seven.
Whitlock was not stretched out enough to go more than 4 innings. He threw 28 two-seam fastballs, topping out at 97.8 mph and averaging 95.7 mph, per Baseball Savant. It had him for 12 changeups and eight sliders.
He threw 69% strikes (48 pitches, 33 strikes).
Davis threw one scoreless inning. Kutter Crawford hurled three scoreless innings. Danish added a scoreless ninth inning before Robles took over in the 10th.
Sunday’s series finale
The Red Sox and Rays will play the final game of their three-game series Sunday at 1:10 p.m.
Red Sox lefty Rich Hill (0-1, 7.00 ERA) is expected to return from the bereavement list to start for Boston. He will pitch opposite Rays lefty Shane McClanahan (0-1, 2.40 ERA).
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