Tampa Bay Rays Shut Down Boston Red Sox, 4-1, To Continue Winning Ways

As stated earlier, Martinez pitched well again for his team, improving his ERA to 1.70 this season (4th in the American League). The one run that he gave up came in the sixth inning on an RBI single against Red Sox Catcher Mickey Gasper. Gasper was the penultimate batter Martinez would face. He was then able to retire the next batter, Marcelo Mayer, on a groundout before being taken out of the game.

In his last four starts, all of which have come during the Rays’ recent winning stretch, Martinez, 35, has only given up three earned runs in 25.2 innings. Martinez’s WHIP in his previous three starts before today was 0.96, which was tied for fifth in the American League. He also had an ERA of 1.02 in his last three outings before today, also fifth in the AL. It has arguably been Martinez’s best start to a season in his career.

Rays Pitching Has Flummoxed Opponents

During the 14-2 run Tampa has had since April 22, its pitching has done the following: allowed one run or fewer in nine of 16 games, and two runs or fewer in 13 of 16 games. And in only one of those games that Tampa allowed two runs or fewer did it lose–a 2-0 loss to Boston earlier in the series. That shows that the offense, led by Caminero and Yandy Díaz, has done just enough to supplement the pitching.

Their pitching has been so good that the Rays now find themselves in the top five in baseball in WHIP (1.16 – tied for 2nd), opponents’ batting average (.219 – 3rd), and team ERA (3.44 – 5th). The squad has also allowed only 121 walks, good for third fewest in MLB. Earlier in the year, the Rays did not have an identity, which led to their slow start. However, their formula for winning has become quite clear since late April: score enough on offense and let the pitching do the rest.