Red Sox Rookie Andrew Benintendi Makes Great Catch In 6-2 Win Over Rays

Boston Red Sox rookie Andrew Benintendi has begun making his mark with the team.

Red Sox Rookie Andrew Benintendi Makes Great Catch In 6-2 Win Over Rays

In the eighth inning of the Red Sox’ road game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the 22-year-old outfielder made a spectacular catch of a would-be two-run home run by Steven Souza Jr. 

Benintendi fell over the left-field wall at Tropicana Field, legs barely maintaining him in the field of play– but he emerged successfully with the baseball nestled in his glove.

The youngster received a standing ovation from the Tampa crowd on his way back to the dugout at the end of the frame.

The Red Sox won the game 6-2 after lefty ace David Price– a former Ray– pitched eight scoreless innings and allowed just two hits. Rays rookie Blake Snell, a 23-year-old left-hander, allowed two runs before getting pulled amid a 40-pitch fourth inning.

“It felt good, for sure,” Price said. “I made some good pitches. It’s a tough team for me to pitch against. Doesn’t matter if it’s here or on the road. It’s just tough.”

Price also commented on Benintendi’s jaw-dropping catch.

“I spent seven years here,” the ace said. “I didn’t see that catch too many times. It doesn’t happen a whole lot. That was huge.”

With the win,–the Red Sox’ ninth in their last 11 games– Boston pulled into a first-place tie with the Blue Jays in the American League East.

“We probably got some pitches to hit that we just missed, but it was a really strong start by David Price,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ve had some success against him in the past, but tonight you could tell he was mixing his pitches well and kept a lot of balls off the barrel. He threw a good ballgame.”

In the ninth, Evan Longoria hit his 29th homer, a two-run shot to left off Boston reliever Matt Barnes to put Tampa Bay on the scoreboard.

Chris Young opened scoring for the Red Sox, in his first game since June after returning from a hamstring strain. His RBI double against Snell in the fourth drove in Hanley Ramirez and put Sandy Leon at third base.

“It feels great [to contribute],” Young said. “That’s the plan going in always. You never really know how it’s going to work out with you being out for so long. Being able to be in a situation with a runner on third and less than two outs, you’re just trying to do your job.”

Snell struck out Benintendi swinging in the top of the third inning.

Xander Bogaerts, who hadn’t hit a home run since July 31, launched a two-run homer to left-center field in the top of the ninth to push the Red Sox’ lead to 5-0. Boston thus found it unnecessary to bring out closer Craig Kimbrel after that.

David Ortiz’s first-inning double was his 40th of the season and 624th of his career, and it tied Hall of Famer Hank Aaron for 10th on baseball’s all-time list. His 2,042 hits are tied with Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr for sixth in club history.

The two teams will face off for the second game of their four-game series at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.

Right-hander Clay Buchholz (4-9, 5.42 ERA) will start for the Red Sox, while righty : Chris Archer (7-16, 4.18 ERA) will take the mound for the Rays.

BOSTON, MA – AUGUST 13: Andrew Benintendi #40 of the Boston Red Sox gives a thumbs-up to the crowd before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Fenway Park on August 13, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)