Tampa Bay Rays Scoreless in 16 Inning Primetime Battle with Red Sox

The Tampa Bay Rays just couldn't score against the Boston Red Sox Sunday night, despite having 16 innings to do so. The 1-0 final score was not the ideal prime time showcase for the Rays, especially since Tampa Bay gets so few opportunities like this. Facing the Red Sox and being on prime time is one of the few chances the team has to get watched by a large audience.

Even with this kind of game on, the Rays only got over 21,000 fans to attend. Yet there were fewer left by the 16th, which is more commonplace in Tampa Bay. Still, the Rays and Red Sox played one of the most unique games of the season: The teams combined for only eight hits in 16 innings.

In fact, every player other than Boston's Dustin Pedroia combined for only five hits, with Pedroia getting three and the winning hit to go with it. The 1-0 score was even more surprising given the 9-6 and 9-5 finals in the first two games of the series. But after the Red Sox won the 9-5 game Saturday, this marathon served as an important rubber match.

Tampa Bay can't afford to lose marathons to Boston given that the team is now seven games back in the AL East. With the Red Sox and Yankees firmly in control of the division, the Rays need as many wins as they can get to stay in the running. Normally a 50-43 record would be good enough to be close to a division or wild card lead, but not in the AL East.

In addition, a 1-0 16 inning showdown would normally be the big sports story of the night, but not on Sunday. The Red Sox and Rays were the final act after the last round of the British Open and the nail-biting women's World Cup final. Ironically, ESPN carried both of these events, so Boston and Tampa Bay served to cap off a gigantic triple-header for the network.

It worked out well for the Red Sox, as they needed the win to stay 1 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees for first place. But the Rays are now 5 1/2 back behind the Yankees for the wild card, with the Angels and Tigers close to overtaking Tampa Bay for second in that race.

This started off as a good weekend for the Rays with an opening win Friday and an ESPN prime time showcase on the horizon. But this kind of heartbreaking final score and series defeat has instead put Tampa Bay in a deeper hole, as it will need a few hot streaks in the second half to get out of it. But against Boston and New York, even that might not be enough to help it catch up.

Sources

ESPN- "Red Sox snap scoreless tie, top Rays in 16th"