Red Sox vs. Rays: A Simple Game Day Preview

How the Teams Are Doing Lately

You might have heard the Boston Red Sox (called the "Sox" for short) were doing really well before the mid-season break (a pause in the season).

• The Sox won 14 out of their last 16 games.
• They won 9 games in a row while playing away from home.
• This hot streak helped them get back into the race for the postseason (the special games at the end of the year to decide the champion).

The Tampa Bay Rays were also good:

• They won 13 out of 18 games before the break.
• They split a 4-game series with the Yankees (won 2, lost 2) and won 2 of 3 from the Mariners.
• They have the best record in the American League (AL) — that’s one of the two big groups of teams — by 3 games ahead of everyone else.

When and Who Is Playing

It’s a doubleheader (two games in one day!) and here’s the plan:

• Both starting pitchers (the players who throw the ball first for each team) are left-handers (they throw with their left hand).
• The Sox will use a rookie (a first-year player) named Jake Bennett.
• The Rays will use Griffin Jax.
• First game starts at 1:35 p.m., and the second game begins at 7:10 p.m.

Important: Neither team has said who will pitch in Game 2 yet — it’s still a mystery!

An Extra Player for the Doubleheader

Because it’s a doubleheader, MLB (Major League Baseball, the big boss of the sport) lets each team add one extra player for the day.

• The Sox added a left-handed pitcher named Alec Gamboa as their 27th man (normally teams have 26 players).
• Gamboa is 29 years old.
• He has played 4 games for the Sox this season — his very first time in the big leagues!
• In those games, he struck out 4 batters (made them miss) and gave up 2 runs in 5 innings.
• In the minor leagues (smaller leagues that train players) with Triple-A Worcester, he played 15 games, started 6, and had a 3.63 ERA (a number that shows how good a pitcher is — lower is better) with 43 strikeouts.

The Game Preview

Here is the basic lineup and info for the first game:

Rays (Record: 56 wins, 38 losses)

• Starting pitcher: Griffin Jax (Right-handed pitcher, or RHP — throws with right hand). His record is 5 wins, 6 losses, and a 3.47 ERA.
• Game 2 starter: To Be Announced (TBA) — they haven’t said yet.

Red Sox (Record: 46 wins, 48 losses)

• Lineup (the order of batters):
  1. Seigler — 2nd base
  2. Rafaela — Center field
  3. Abreu — Right field
  4. Durbin — 3rd base
  5. Yoshida — Designated hitter (hits but doesn’t play defense)
  6. Gonzalez — 1st base
  7. Duran — Left field
  8. Narváez — Catcher
  9. Cheng — Shortstop
• Starting pitcher: Jake Bennett (Left-handed pitcher, or LHP). His record is 4 wins, 3 losses, and a 2.64 ERA.

Where to Watch and Listen

• Time: 1:35 p.m.
• TV: NESN
• Radio: WEEI-FM 93.7

How Hitters Have Done Against the Pitchers

These are like little report cards showing if batters got hits (numbers like 2-5 mean 2 hits in 5 tries) against today’s starters:

Rays batters vs. Bennett (Sox pitcher)

• Jonathan Aranda: 1-6
• Junior Caminero: 2-5
• Jonny DeLuca: 0-1
• Yandy Díaz: 2-5
• Nick Fortes: 3-4
• Cedric Mullins: 1-3
• Ryan Vilade: 1-5
• Taylor Walls: 1-2
• Ben Williamson: 1-4

Red Sox batters vs. Jax (Rays pitcher)

• Wilyer Abreu: 3-7
• Willson Contreras: 2-4
• Jarren Duran: 1-6
• Caleb Durbin: 1-1
• Romy González: 0-3
• Andruw Monasterio: 0-1
• Carlos Narváez: 0-1
• Ceddanne Rafaela: 1-2
• Connor Wong: 0-4
• Masataka Yoshida: 0-1

Fun Stat of the Day

Stat of the day: The Red Sox have allowed only 3.8 runs per game. That is their second-lowest amount through 94 games since the end of World War 2 (a very long time ago)!

Extra Notes to Know

Here are some simple behind-the-scenes facts:

1. Jake Bennett has won his last 3 starts and pitched at least 7 innings in his last two wins (against the Angels and White Sox).
2. He once threw 7 shutout innings (no runs allowed!) against Chicago on July 8.
3. But against the Rays, Bennett has lost both times he faced them (0-2, with a 6.97 ERA in 10⅓ innings).
4. Willson Contreras (a Sox batter) will miss the first game because he is finishing a 5-game suspension (a timeout for bad behavior) from a fight with the Nationals on June 30. He can play in the night game.
5. Griffin Jax won 4 of his last 5 starts; his only loss was July 6 vs. the Yankees where he struck out 10 batters in 5 innings.
6. Jax has a 0-1 record with a 6.75 ERA in 15 career games vs. Boston, but only 2 were starts.

Summary

The Red Sox are super hot coming into the break, and the Rays are the best team in their league. They’ll play two games today starting at 1:35 p.m., with lefties Bennett and Jax starting Game 1. The Sox added Alec Gamboa for the doubleheader, and Contreras sits out early but returns later. Both teams have strong and weak spots against today’s pitchers, and Boston’s pitching has been historically good at keeping runs low!

FAQ

Q: What is a doubleheader?
A: It’s when two baseball games between the same teams happen on the same day.

Q: Why does the Sox have a 27th man?
A: MLB rules let teams add one extra player just for doubleheader days to avoid tired players.

Q: What does “ERA” mean?
A: ERA stands for Earned Run Average. It shows how many runs a pitcher lets in per 9 innings — a lower number means better pitching.

Q: Why is Contreras not playing the first game?
A: He is finishing a 5-game suspension given for a brawl (big fight) with another team last month.