The Tampa Bay Rays (63-43) rode their ace David Price to a nail-biting 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox (63-44) that vaulted them into first place in the American League East.
The scrappy Rays, forever an underdog to the big money Yankees and Sox, gleefully tweeted a parting shot to the Red Sox on their way out of Fenway Park. The Rays team account tweeted:
"Dear @Redsox scoreboard operator- your standings are wrong. Yours truly, @RaysBaseball."
About an hour later the miffed Red Sox responded in nasty fashion, clearly frustrated over not only their loss, but how it came about. The Red Sox' tweet back read:
"Don't worry @RaysBaseball we look forward to seeing you in Tampa in September for our home games at the Trop."
Perhaps Boston's frustration was justified, and they certainly handled their anger better than designated hitter David Ortiz did on Saturday. Sox manager John Farrell was tossed from the ballgame in the eighth inning though, stemming from a call at home plate that the umpire seemed to get wrong.
With outfielder Daniel Nava on third base, catcher Brandon Snyder lifted a fly ball to left center field that was slightly misplayed by Rays left fielder Sam Fuld. Once he had the ball, Fuld launched a strike that lifted him off his feet. Nava slid into home feet first as Jose Molina tried to block the plate.
The ump was positioned behind Molina and appeared unable to properly see Nava's foot sneak in before Molina's tag and called him out. That late run would have tied the game; instead the Red Sox lost their best shot at victory and their manager for the rest of the game.
The umpired, Jerry Meals, admitted his error following the game. "What I saw was Molina blocked the plate and Nava's foot lifted. But in the replays, you could clearly see Nava's foot got under for a split second and then lifted, so I was wrong on my decision. From the angle I had, I did not see his foot get under Molina's shin guard."
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