ST. PETERSBURG -- The Red Sox wanted one thing particular to finish a 13-game dropping streak at Tropicana Field that dated again to April 22, 2022.

They acquired it in numerous kinds, and the frequent denominator was gifted youth, which led Boston to a 7-3 victory over the Rays in Monday afternoon’s opener of a three-game sequence.

Triston Casas, on the one-year anniversary of his MLB debut and within the midst of a torrid second half of the season, hammered a game-changing three-run homer to left-center within the high of the sixth.

Then there was Brayan Bello, who pitched his group right into a 3-0 gap within the backside of the primary inning, solely to be lights out for the remainder of the day.

With their third straight win, the Red Sox (72-66) moved to inside 4 1/2 video games of the Rangers for the ultimate American League Wild Card spot, the closest Boston has been since Aug. 27. The Red Sox maintain a 2-1 edge within the season sequence towards Texas, and the groups play a three-game sequence in Arlington from Sept. 18-20. The winner of the head-to-head sequence claims the first tiebreaker if two groups are tied within the standings.

The Blue Jays are a half-game behind Texas, however they lead Boston by 4 video games. The Red Sox, who've already clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker towards the Blue Jays, have a three-game sequence in Toronto from Sept. 15-17.

Despite the uptick in playoff odds, Monday was extra about two key items of the group’s core going ahead than October.

Casas appears to grow to be an even bigger drive by the week. His twenty third homer of the season -- an authorized rocket that left his bat at 105.9 mph and traveled a Statcast-projected 419 ft to the alternative discipline -- turned the group's two-run deficit right into a one-run lead.

Fittingly, Tropicana Field is the place Casas belted his first Major League homer on Sept. 6, 2022.

“It’s just the most special day of my life, so I’ll always mark it on my calendar as a pretty special day in my book,” Casas stated of the one-year anniversary of his debut. “Yeah, I did know. And it was pretty cool a year ago today being here, too. I thought that was pretty weird, too. Lots of coincidences, for sure.”

As for Bello, he went six innings, permitting 5 hits and simply these three runs. He walked two and struck out seven.

To have any shot on the playoffs, the Red Sox will want higher beginning pitching than they’ve obtained in current weeks. Bello’s six-inning efficiency marked the primary time a Boston starter recorded greater than 15 outs in a sport since Bello went seven innings in Houston on Aug. 24.

The key for Bello on Monday was preserving his composure after issues went unsuitable within the first inning.

“Throwing strikes was the plan from the jump. That first inning, I fell behind a bunch of hitters, but that’s what it takes to be in the big leagues, to make adjustments,” stated Bello. “In the second, I made adjustments and kept the same routine. It felt good to just keep them at bay like that, give time for the offense to do their thing, which they ended up doing.”

The improvement of Bello and Casas is as essential as something that has occurred for the Red Sox this season.

“Compared to last year? A lot better,” supervisor Alex Cora stated of Bello. “I remember there was a game here last year that happened and he was in the tunnel just kind of like, ‘What's going on?’ That's part of it.”

Bello remembers these rising pains nicely.

“Last year, whenever I would have a bad inning or things were going bad, they would snowball a little bit on me and I would get mad at myself in those moments,” Bello stated. “But now, I’m able to block those things out.”

Casas, who acquired off to a tough begin this season, has additionally made an enormous leap on the psychological facet. Cora not too long ago talked about that the 23-year-old has grow to be a pacesetter in hitters’ conferences, which is uncommon for a rookie.

In 147 at-bats because the All-Star break, Casas has a slash line of .340/.443/.680 with 14 homers.

“He’s a good hitter, man. He knows what he's doing. He's very patient with his process and he dominates the strike zone,” stated Cora. “Numbers-wise, he's probably one of the top 10 hitters in the league. And he keeps getting better.”

Content Source: www.mlb.com