Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter Nelson Cruz (23) bats against the Boston Red Sox during the fourth inning at Fenway Park. Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Red Sox blunder allows four runs to score on pop fly

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated 9/6/21

The Boston Red Sox took a comfortable 7-1 lead into the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, but things quickly went south following what looked like a routine fly ball.

Chris Sale appeared to get out of a jam when he got Nelson Cruz to hit a pop fly to center field. Instead, Alex Verdugo lost the ball in the sun. That allowed three runs to score, and Cruz also came around to score because of a throwing error from Red Sox second baseman Taylor Motter.

The play was ruled a triple with a throwing error. You can see the madness unfold below:

Verdugo misses the catch, there's an E4 throw, and Nelson Cruz hits a little league inside-the-park grand slam pic.twitter.com/GciZPEaKSB

— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) September 6, 2021

What should have been a 7-1 lead quickly turned into 7-5.

Players looked like they were having trouble with the sun all day. It just so happens that it could not have become a factor at a worse time for the Red Sox.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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