Red Sox break up no-hitter in 10th inning, then get walked off on by Kevin Kiermaier in wild 3-2 loss to Rays

The Red Sox delivered a late birthday present to Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier on Saturday night. Kiermaier, who turned 32 on Friday, crushed a two-run walk-off home run off Hansel Robles in the 10th inning to lift Tampa Bay to a stunning 3-2 win over Boston at Tropicana Field.

With the loss, the Sox fall to 7-8 on the season. They have not won consecutive ballgames since April 16-17.

Garrett Whitlock, making his first start and fifth overall appearance of the year, absolutely dominated the Rays’ lineup. In what was his first career big-league start, the right-hander yielded just one hit and no walks to go along with seven strikeouts over four scoreless, near-perfect innings of work.

After taking a perfect game into the fourth inning, Whitlock gave up a leadoff double to Brandon Lowe. He then stranded Lowe at second base by retiring the final three batters he faced in order. The 25-year-old finished with a final pitch count of 48 (33 strikes) and turned to his sinker 58% of the time he was on the mound.

In relief of Whitlock, Austin Davis received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from acting manager Will Venable. The left-hander maneuvered his way around a two-out walk in an otherwise clean frame before making way for Kutter Crawford, who twirled three scoreless innings of his own while striking out five.

Tyler Danish walked the first batter he faced in the ninth to put the potential winning run on base, but left him there to send this 0-0 game into extra innings.

To that point in the contest, the Red Sox lineup had been no-hit by six different Rays pitchers in J.P. Feyereisen, Javy Guerra, Jeffrey Springs, Jason Adam, Ryan Thompson, and Andrew Kittredge. They reached base six times over that stretch via five walks and a fielding error, but were unable to do anything with those base runners.

In the top of the 10th, Matt Wisler took over for Kittredge and Jackie Bradley Jr. became the automatic runner at second base. On the third pitch he saw from Wisler, an 0-2 slider, Bobby Dalbec came through in the clutch by lacing an RBI triple down the right field line.

Dalbec’s 322-foot foot triple left his bat at 97.1 mph. It also provided the Sox with their first hit of the night and drove in Bradley Jr. to give them a late 1-0 lead. Dalbec then scored on a Christian Vazquez sacrifice fly to double that advantage to 2-0.

That sequence led to Venable going with Robles in the bottom half of the 10th. With Randy Arozarena at second base and the potential tying run at the plate, Robles fanned Ji-Man Choi and Josh Lowe for the first two outs of the inning.

A balk from Robles allowed Arozarena to advance to third. With the Rays down to their final out, Taylor Walls reached base on a throwing error committed by Trevor Story and Arozarena scored to cut Tampa Bay’s deficit to one.

Robles then fell behind in the count against Kiermaier and served up the game-winning, two-run homer on a 96 mph four-seamer down the heart of the plate. Kiermaier deposited it 372 feet into the right field seats to send the Rays home with a come-from-behind victory.

Next up: Hill vs. McClanahan in rubber match

Despite losing in heartbreaking fashion, the Red Sox still have a chance to win this three-game series against the Rays on Sunday afternoon. Boston will turn to left-hander Rich Hill as he makes his return from the bereavement list in the series finale. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, will roll with fellow southpaw Shane McClanahan.

First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Hansel Robles and Kevin Kiermaier: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Garrett Whitlock dazzles in first career start for Red Sox

Garrett Whitlock was absolutely sensational in his first career major-league start for the Red Sox on Saturday night.

Working on three days rest and in front of his family against the Rays at Tropicana Field, the right-hander yielded just one hit and no walks to go along with seven strikeouts over four scoreless innings.

After retiring each of the first nine batters he faced, Whitlock took a perfect game into the fourth inning before giving up a leadoff double to Brandon Lowe. He then stranded Lowe at second base by sitting down the likes of Wander Franco, Randy Arozarena, and Ji-Man Choi in order to get through four shutout frames.

Of the 48 pitches Whitlock threw on Saturday, 33 went for strikes. The 25-year-old threw 28 sinkers, 12 changeups, and eight sliders. He induced a total of seven swings-and-misses while topping out at 97.8 mph with his sinking fastball.

The Red Sox elected to have Whitlock start on Saturday in order to fill in for Rich Hill, who had his start pushed back to Sunday after spending time away from the team while on the bereavement list.

Since his last outing came on April 19, Whitlock was stretched out to throw three to four innings and he certainly did his job in an efficient manner there by averaging 12 pitches per inning.

While Boston has mainly used Whitlock as a reliever since acquiring him from the Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, the club undoubtedly views the righty as a starting pitcher in the long-term.

When the Sox signed Whitlock to a four-year, $18.75 million contract extension earlier this month, they did so while including escalators based on the number of innings he pitches in the future.

As far as when Whitlock’s next start will come, that much remains unclear. The Red Sox could very well have the hard-throwing hurler start against the Blue Jays in Toronto next week, or perhaps they will move him back to the bullpen for the remainder of their three-city road trip.

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Rob Refsnyder to make Red Sox debut on Saturday

Rob Refsnyder will make his Red Sox debut as they go up against the Rays at Tropicana Field on Saturday night. He will bat ninth while serving as Boston’s designated hitter.

The Red Sox selected Refsnyder from Triple-A Worcester and added him to the active roster this past Tuesday, the same day in which catcher Christian Vazquez and infielder Jonathan Arauz were placed on the COVID-19 related injured list after they both tested positive for the virus.

Refsnyder, 31, originally signed a minor-league deal with the Sox back in December. After being informed he would not be making the big-league club out of spring training, the veteran outfielder accepted an assignment to Worcester.

Prior to getting called up earlier this week, Refsnyder had been enjoying a nice start to his 2022 season with the WooSox. The right-handed hitter batted .400/.551/.600 to go along with four doubles, one home run, eight RBIs, 12 runs scored, one stolen base, nine walks, and eight strikeouts across his first 11 games (49 plate appearances) with the affiliate.

A former fifth-round draft pick of the Yankees in 2013, Refsnyder comes with plenty of major-league experience. He most-recently posted a .663 OPS in 51 games with the Twins last year while making appearances at all three outfield positions.

While he has proven to be more effective against left-handed pitching over the course of his career, Refsynder will be matched up against Rays right-hander J.P. Feyereisen to begin things on Saturday. J.D. Martinez remains out of Boston’s lineup as he continues to recover from left adductor tightness.

Tropicana Field should be a familiar venue for Refsnyder, who spent a good chunk of the 2018 campaign with the Rays. In 64 career plate appearances at the Trop, Refsnyder owns a lifetime .216/.365/.275 slash line with three doubles and one RBI.

As noted by Red Sox Stats on Twitter, Refsnyder will be the first Boston player to start at designated hitter and bat out of the nine-hole since Kevin Plawecki did so last April.

First pitch between the 7-7 Red Sox and 7-7 Rays on Saturday is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Rob Refsnyder: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Trevor Story makes game-saving play as Red Sox hold on for 4-3 win over Rays

The Red Sox kicked off one of their longest road trips of the season with a series-opening win over the Rays in St. Petersburg on Friday night. Boston barely defeated Tampa Bay by a final score 4-3 at Tropicana Field to improve to 7-7.

Matched up against a familiar foe in Corey Kluber to begin things, the Sox wasted no time in attacking the Rays starter. A pair of first-inning singles from leadoff man Trevor Story and Xander Bogaerts put runners at the corners for Alex Verdugo, who drove in Story on an RBI single back up the middle. Bogaerts himself scored on an RBI groundout from Jackie Bradley Jr.

Given an early 2-0 lead to work with out of the gate, Michael Wacha was rudely greeted to begin his third start of the season. With one out in the bottom of the first, the right-hander served up his first of two solo shots to Rays phenom Wander Franco. This one left Franco’s bat at 109.7 mph and traveled 389 feet into the right field seats to make it a 2-1 game.

The Sox were able to respond, though, and that happened when Rafael Devers led off the third inning with his third home run of the season. On a 1-0, 84 mph cutter from Kluber, Devers clubbed a 380-foot solo shot down the right field line to give his side a 3-1 edge. Bogaerts tacked on another by lacing a 107 mph double and scoring on a one-out RBI single off the bat of Enrique Hernandez. Travis Shaw nearly extended the inning with a three-run home run down the right field line like Devers’, but it was instead deemed a foul ball and Shaw struck out.

With a three-run cushion to operate with now, Wacha received some help from his infield in the bottom of the third. After putting runners on first and second with two outs, Bogaerts robbed Yandy Diaz of an extra-base hit by snatching a 110.7 mph line drive in mid-air to extinguish the threat.

An inning later, Story made a sprawling grab up the middle to rob Manuel Margot of a one-out single. Wacha continued to roll on through the fourth and was one out way from getting through a scoreless fifth. Franco prevented that from happening, though, as he took the righty deep once more to cut Tampa Bay’s deficit to two. Randy Arozarena struck out to end the fifth, which would wind up being Wacha’s final inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 82 (50 strikes), Wacha surrendered just two runs on three hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts in his five innings. The 30-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball and changeup a combined 69% of the time he was on the mound Friday.

In relief of Wacha, Austin Davis received the first call from acting manager Will Venable out of the Boston bullpen in the sixth inning. With some help from Verdugo, who recorded his second outfield assist of the year by gunning down Yandy Diaz at second base, the left-hander faced the minimum on 17 pitches — 10 of which went for strikes. Fellow southpaw Matt Strahm was next up for the eighth and immediately gave up a leadoff single to Margot.

Kevin Kiermaier effectively traded places with Margot while grounding into the first out of the inning. Kiermaier then went from first to third on a Mike Zunino single that was accompanied by a Bogaerts throwing error and scored from third on a Brandon Lowe groundout.

With two outs in the seventh inning of a 4-3 game, Venable went back to the bullpen and brought in Hansel Robles to face off against Franco. Forcing the switch-hitter to hit from the left side of the plate, Robles got Franco to fly out to Verdugo in left to strand the potential tying run at second base.

Robles’ job was not yet done, however, as the hard-throwing right-hander came back out for the eighth. He struck out one and induced a pair of groundouts to send things along to the ninth inning.

Jake Diekman was unable to lock things down in the ninth. The left-hander instead walked the bases loaded while recording the first two outs of the frame to leave things in the hands of Matt Barnes.

Branes was brought in to face Franco and had nowhere to put him. Looking to reclaim his role as Boston’s closer, Barnes got Franco to ground out to Story, though it was no easy play.

After sliding to his left to field the 101 mph grounder, Story quickly got back to his feet and made the throw over to Bobby Dalbec at first base to record the final out. Barnes was credited with his first save of the year as he closes out the 4-3 victory.

Next up: Whitlock set to make first career start

As the Red Sox go for their second straight win over the Rays on Saturday, right-hander Garrett Whitlock will be making his first career big-league start for Boston. Tampa Bay has yet to announce who will be starting for them.

Regardless, first pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Enrique Hernandez and Trevor Story: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Garrett Whitlock to make first career start for Red Sox on Saturday

Garrett Whitlock will make his first career start for the Red Sox when they go up against the Rays on Saturday, acting manager Will Venable told reporters at Tropicana Field on Friday evening.

Rich Hill, who has been on the bereavement list since his father, Lloyd, passed away last week, was originally slated to start Saturday’s contest. The Red Sox, however, opted to move Hill’s start to Sunday so that the left-hander could get an extra day of rest after being away from the team to attend his father’s services over the last few days.

With Hill’s spot in the rotation becoming vacant, Boston decided it would be best to have Whitlock fill in for the veteran southpaw on Saturday night.

Since coming over from the Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, Whitlock has only been used by the Sox as a reliever. So far this season, the right-hander has posted a miniscule 0.93 ERA and 2.74 FIP to go along with 11 strikeouts to two walks across four appearances spanning 9 2/3 innings out of the bullpen.

On Saturday, the plan will be for Whitlock to throw three or four innings, as he will only be working on three days rest. Though it will be his first time doing it at the big-league level, starting games is nothing new for the 25-year-old, who made a total of 38 starts over three seasons (2017-2019) in the Yankees organization.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, the Red Sox view Whitlock as a starter in the long-term. They made that much clear when they signed the righty to a four-year extension earlier this month that includes escalators based on the number of innings he pitches.

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Sporting colorful glove, Phillips Valdez has been effective out of Red Sox’ bullpen early on this season

In case you have not noticed, Red Sox reliever Phillips Valdez is sporting a new glove this season.

Previously, Valdez has worn a red glove throughout his first two seasons in Boston. This year, however, the right-hander has been rocking a bright blue glove that features red lacing.

When asked about what led to the change by MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith earlier this month, Valdez said he saw his friend, Cardinals reliever Genesis Cabrera, wearing a similar glove in the Dominican Republic. He thought Cabrera’s glove looked “nice,” so he decided to get one for himself.

After making the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster for a third consecutive year, Valdez has gotten his 2022 campaign off to a strong start. While pitching mostly in low-leverage situations out of Boston’s bullpen, the 30-year-old has struck out 10 and walked only one over six relief appearances spanning eight innings of work.

It’s obviously early, but among major-league relievers who have pitched eight or more innings so far this season, Valdez ranks second in strikeout rate (35.7%), sixth in walk rate (3.6%), second in batting average against (.080), first in WHIP (0.38), third in FIP (1.68), and first in xFIP (2.36), per FanGraphs.

According to Baseball Savant, Valdez has also been effective in other areas while utilizing his changeup, sinker, and slider. The 6-foot-4, 192 pound hurler currently ranks in the 89th percentile in fastball spin, the 86th percentile in expected batting average, the 85th percentile in expected slugging percentage, the 87th percentile in walk rate, and the 89th percentile in punchout rate.

Whether it be the new glove or something else, Valdez has proven to be a valuable member of Alex Cora’s bullpen a few weeks into the 2022 season. Boston may be in 0-6 in Valdez’s appearances, but he is at the very least allowing Cora to preserve his other, more high-leverage relievers for another day.

With that, Valdez could very well remain on the Sox’ big-league roster even after roster sizes shrink from 28 to 26 players on May 2. That is no guarantee at this point, but still something worth monitoring nonetheless.

(Picture of Phillips Valdez: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox prospect Tyreque Reed involved in benches-clearing brawl in Portland

Red Sox prospect Tyreque Reed was involved in a benches-clearing brawl between the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston’s Double-A affiliate) and Binghamton Rumble Ponies (New York Mets affiliate) at Hadlock Field on Thursday night.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the third inning, Reed was hit in the hand by a pitch from Rumble Ponies starter Marcel Renteria. It appeared as though the Sea Dogs designated hitter was prepared to take his base without any sort of confrontation.

While walking to first, though, Reed stopped in his tracks and must have heard something he did not like from Renteria, because the 6-foot-1, 250 pounder promptly charged at and punched the right-hander in the head/face area, causing him to drop to the ground.

As a result of the exchange, both dugouts quickly emptied and hurried onto the field. While Reed was involved in a larger scuffle, Renteria got back on his feet and — for whatever reason — tacked Sea Dogs second baseman David Hamilton, who had been the runner at third.

It took some time for the dust to settle, but by the time it ended Renteria was back on the ground being tended to by trainers after suffering an apparent injury. Reed, on the other hand, was ejected from the contest alongside Hamilton. The two were replaced by Elih Marrero and Cam Cannon, respectively.

Portland went on to defeat Binghamton by a final score of 12-5 on Thursday to improve to 6-6 on the season. Both the home and away team at Hadlock Field share the same clubhouse, so the Rumble Ponies stayed on the field a bit longer while Sea Dogs players and staff made their way to the exit.

Following the win, Sea Dogs manager Chad Epperson — who was coaching at third base at the time of the brawl — was asked about what happened. He could only respond by saying he did not know what Renteria said to Reed to ignite such a physical altercation.

“It’s just one of those things,” Epperson told The Portland Press Herald’s Travis Lazarczyk. “Obviously, something was going on there to set something off, but as far as what, I have no idea.”

The Sea Dogs and Rumble Ponies will continue on with their series on Friday night. Brandon Walter, one of the top pitching prospects in the Red Sox farm system, is slated to start for Portland.

(Picture of Tyreque Reed: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox show late life, but come up short in 3-2 loss to Blue Jays

The Red Sox lost more than just their manager to COVID-19 on Thursday. Hours after Alex Cora tested positive for the virus, Boston came up just short and fell to the Blue Jays by a final score of 3-2 at Fenway Park. With the win, Toronto takes the three-game series and drops the Sox to 6-7 on the season.

Tanner Houck, making his third start of the year, allowed two earned runs on three hits and one walk to go along with four strikeouts on the afternoon. The right-hander retired six of the first seven batters he faced before running into some trouble in the top of the third.

There, Houck issued a leadoff walk to Gosuke Katoh and one-out single to Raimel Tapia that put runners at first and second base for Bo Bichette, who drove in his side’s first run on an RBI single through the right side of the infield. After advancing to third on that base hit, Tapia himself scored on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sacrifice fly.

Faced with an early 2-0 deficit, Houck was able to rebound as he stranded Bichette at second base before retiring the side in order in both the fourth and fifth innings to end his day on a positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 71 (47 strikes), Houck turned to his four-seam fastball nearly half of the time he was on the mound Thursday. The 25-year-old hovered around 94-96 mph with the pitch and induced a game-high six swings-and-misses with it.

Houck’s next appearance will come out of the bullpen in St. Petersburg this Sunday, as he is ineligible to pitch in Toronto next week due to his unvaccinated status.

In relief of Houck, Ryan Brasier received the first call from acting manager Will Venable out of the Boston bullpen in the sixth inning. The righty yielded a one-out double to Guerrero Jr. and a two-out walk to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. He then got Matt Chapman to lift a 43-foot popup that was altered by the wind and fell in between Brasier, Christian Vazquez, and Travis Shaw, allowing Guerrero Jr. to score all the way from second.

Austin Davis came on for Brasier and recorded the final out of the sixth while also getting the first two outs of the seventh before issuing a two-out single to Tapia. Hirokazu Sawamura was then called upon to take over Davis, and he escaped any damage by getting Guerrero Jr. to fly out to center field.

Sawamura continued on in the eighth and put up another zero there, while Phillips Valdez did the same to hold the Jays to three runs on the day.

On the other side of things, a J.D. Martinez-less Red Sox lineup was once again held in check by a Blue Jays starter. Jose Berrios had the honor of doing so on Wednesday, and Kevin Gausman picked up where he left off on Thursday.

Facing off against a familiar foe in Gausman, the Sox were held to a pair of singles through four innings. In the fifth, Vazquez attempted to stretch a one-out single off the Green Monster into a double and was instead gunned down by Tapia for the final out of the frame.

Boston threatened again in the sixth when Christian Arroyo advanced to second base on a Trevor Story groundout, but was left stranded there after Devers grounded out to the catcher.

Gausman maneuvered his way around two more base hits in the seventh and made quick work of the bottom third of the Sox’ order in the eighth.

Down to their final three outs in the bottom of the ninth, Story led things off with a hard-hit single that at long last knocked Gausman out of the game. That proved to be the spark Boston needed.

With Jordan Romano now on the mound for Toronto, Devers drew a walk that moved Story into scoring position. Bogaerts scored the Sox’ first run by driving in Story on an RBI double down the left field line.

An Alex Verdugo groundout to the right side of the infield pushed across Devers and advanced Bogaerts — representing the tying run — up to third base. Dalbec then laced a 102.7 mph groundout that Bogaerts could do nothing with.

It was now all up to Jackie Bradley Jr., who got ahead in the count at 3-0 but ultimately grounded out to first base and lost a footrace to Guerrero Jr. for the third and final out.

Just like that, the rally was dead, and the Blue Jays just barely held on for a series-clinching, 3-2 victory.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Thursday and left four runners on base as a team. They scored a total of five runs in this series.

Phillips Valdez has yet to allow a run through his first six appearances and eight innings pitched of the 2022 season. He has struck out 10 of the 28 batters he has faced thus far.

In their first homestand of the year, the Red Sox went 3-4 and find themselves back under .500 once again.

Next up: On the road

The Red Sox will now embark upon a 10-game road trips that includes stops in St. Petersburg, Toronto, and Baltimore.

For Friday’s series opener against the Rays at Tropicana Field, it will be right-hander Michael Wacha getting the ball for Boston and fellow righty Corey Kluber doing the same for Tampa Bay.

First pitch from Tropicana Field on Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Christian Vazquez: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox manager Alex Cora tests positive for COVID-19

Red Sox manager Alex Cora has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced during Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

Cora, who is fully vaccinated and boosted against the virus, registered a positive test shortly before first pitch on Thursday and is not managing the team. He is currently experiencing mild symptoms and will not travel with the Red Sox to St. Petersburg for their upcoming series against the Rays that begins on Friday.

Earlier this week, Cora told reporters (including WEEI’s Rob Bradford) that he had been staying at a local hotel after one of his sons had contracted COVID-19.

In Cora’s place, bench coach Will Venable has taken over managing responsibilities for Boston. This will be Venable’s second time filling in for Cora. The 39-year-old did so last May while Cora was attending his daughter’s high school graduation in Puerto Rico.

Besides Cora, the Red Sox currently have two players on the COVID-19 related injured list in catcher Kevin Plawecki and infielder Jonathan Arauz. Christian Vazquez, who tested positive on Tuesday, returned to Boston’s lineup on Thursday after a two-day absence.

(Picture of Alex Cora: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Latest mock draft has Red Sox taking University of Tennessee outfielder Drew Gilbert with top pick

In the latest version of their 2022 mock draft, Prospects Live has the Red Sox selecting University of Tennessee outfielder Drew Gilbert with their first-round pick at No. 24 overall.

Gilbert, 21, was originally selected by his hometown Twins in the 35th round of the 2019 amateur draft out of Stillwater Area High School, which is less than 30 miles east of Target Field. But the Minnesota native opted not to go pro at that time and instead took his talents to Knoxville, Tenn.

A former two-way player coming out of high school, Gilbert has since transitioned to become a full-time outfielder with the Volunteers. 30 games into his junior season, the left-handed hitter is batting a stout .370/.492/.663 with 12 doubles, three triples, three home runs, 36 RBIs, 30 runs scored, three stolen bases, 22 walks, and 15 strikeouts over 122 plate appearances.

Per his Prospects Live scouting report, “Gilbert gets extremely high marks for his competitive fire and is regarded as one of the more intense players in college baseball. He plays an above average centerfield with an average arm and plus run times. In total, we’re talking about a guy with a smattering of solid average tools, fantastic makeup, and bat speed that could translate into game power as he continues to get a feel for what he’s capable of.”

Coming into the 2022 season, Gilbert was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 149 draft-eligible prospect and by MLB Pipeline as the No. 82 draft-eligible prospect.

Listed at 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, Gilbert has served as the Vols’ primary centerfielder this year. Given his past experience as a pitcher, it is not surprising to see that Gilbert has been recognized for his arm strength as well as his ability to play all over the outfield.

On the basepaths, MLB Pipeline notes that Gilbert “has solid to plus speed and will steal and take extra bases. While he’s not a true burner, his quickness and instincts allow him to run down balls from gap to gap in center field.”

Gilbert, who turns 22 in September, has the chance to move quickly through whichever organization he joins this summer. As a reminder, Day 1 of the 2022 MLB Draft will take place in Los Angeles on July 17.

The Red Sox, for what it’s worth, have not used a first-round draft pick on an outfielder since 2015, when they took Andrew Benintendi out of another SEC school in the University of Arkansas.

(GIF of Drew Gilbert via University of Tennessee Athletics on GIPHY)