The Tampa Bay Rays rallied from an early 3-0 deficit, and eventually pulled away from the Boston Red Sox thanks to a homer and four RBI by Francisco Mejia, regaining sole possession of first place in the American League East with a 9-5 victory Saturday evening at Tropicana Field.
The Rays fell behind in the very first inning, with Ryan Yarbrough walking Rafael Devers with one out in the inning, and allowing him to move into scoring position on a wild pitch. J.D. Martinez then drove in Devers with a base hit, and Xander Bogaerts followed up with a two-run homer to make it a 3-0 deficit.
But Tampa Bay wasted no time getting back into the contest, with Brandon Lowe doubling off Nathan Eovaldi to start the home half of the first, and Ji-Man Choi blasting his eighth home run of the year into the seats in right to cut the deficit back to one run.
A pair of Jonathan Arauz errors in the third allowed Tampa Bay to tie up the game. The Boston second baseman couldn’t handle a Lowe grounder cleanly to start the rally, and after a Choi base hit moved him to third, Nelson Cruz‘s ground ball ate up Arauz for another error and allowed Lowe to score to make it 3-3.
Mejia gave Tampa Bay its first lead of the night an inning later, as his two-run homer off Eovaldi with two outs made it a 5-3 contest.
Boston tied up the game in the fifth on a two-run homer by Bobby Dalbec, and in the sixth loaded the bases against Andrew Kittredge, who was able to keep the game tied by striking out Christian Vazquez and Dalbec. Tampa Bay then broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth when Joey Wendle led off with a base hit and Wander Franco drove him in with an RBI triple.
Franco, who also hit a triple in Friday night’s win, became the first Rays player to triple in consecutive games since Tommy Pham did so September 20-21, 2018 in Toronto.
Boston again loaded the bases in the seventh on a base hit by Enrique Hernandez and a bunt single by Devers, which saw reliever Jeffrey Springs to leave the game with a right knee sprain, and after a groundout by Martinez, an intentional walk to Bogaerts. But Matt Wisler struck out Renfroe on a full count to preserve the lead.
Matt Wisler walks off the mound after striking out Boston’s Hunter Renfroe to leave the bases loaded in the seventh inning Saturday (photo: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Rays)
Tampa Bay added three more runs in the bottom of the eighth, as Austin Meadows doubled off reliever Adam Ottavino, and after Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch, pinch-runner Brett Phillips scored on a base hit by Franco. Austin Davis then uncorked a wild pitch allowing both Arozarena and Franco to move up a base, and Mejia drove them both in with a base hit to set the score at 9-5.
Chris Mazza allowed an infield single to Hernandez in the ninth, but stranded him at third base to finish the game.
The victory gives Tampa Bay sole possesion of first place in the American League East for the first time since June 26.
The Rays can go for the sweep Sunday night in the finale of the series. Shane McClanahan (4-4, 3.93 ERA) will get the start, taking on Nick Pivetta (8-4, 4.51 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:08.