Hunter Renfroe stars on offense and defense as Boston Red Sox edge Tampa Bay Rays
If the Boston Red Sox happen to squeeze into the playoffs this season, Wednesday night's win over the AL East division-leading Tampa Bay Rays may be known throughout New England as the Hunter Renfroe game.
Neither team scored over the first seven innings before the Rays broke through on an RBI single by Nelson Cruz in the top of the ninth.
However in the bottom of the eighth inning, Renfroe hit a mammoth two-run home run off Rays reliever J.T. Chargois that went completely out of Fenway Park. His 27th home run of the season flipped the script to give Boston a 2-1 lead.
But that wasn't all. After already cutting down one Rays baserunner earlier in the evening, the veteran outfielder made a game-saving - and game-ending - defensive play, throwing out the potential tying run at third base to cap a 2-1 Boston win.
The victory moved the Red Sox (80-62) a half-game ahead of the New York Yankees for the first wild-card spot in the American League with 20 games left in the regular season. The Yankees lost their fifth consecutive game Wednesday night, 6-3, to the Toronto Blue Jays.