Rays Snatch 10th Consecutive Win In 1-0 Victory Over Red Sox

Sometimes, all it takes to win a ball game is one solid hit. Brandon Lowe and the Tampa Bay Rays secured a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox Monday night, leading Tampa to a 10-0 start in the 2023 season — tying them for the fourth-best start to a season in MLB history.

10-0? Sounds good!#RaysUp

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 11, 2023

Lowe hit a home run in the eighth inning to give the Rays their only run of the game. Tampa Bay also benefitted from a strong combined effort on the mound.

Jalen Beeks got the start, but only ended up pitching for two innings. Despite his short outing, he still had a strong performance — striking out two batters and only allowing one hit.

Josh Fleming then took the mound in the third inning and kept the Red Sox under control. He pitched for four innings and only surrendered a single hit. Fleming also racked up five strikeouts along the way.

Eventually, Tampa Bay went to their bullpen to close things out.

Garrett Cleavinger, Colin Poche and Pete Fairbanks pitched the final three innings of the game. Cleavinger and Fairbanks did not allow a single runner on base, while Poche surrendered one hit and a pair of walks. Poche still managed to prevent any runs from scoring, as he ended up with his first win of the season.

https://twitter.com/RaysBaseball/status/1645586175048970242

Fairbanks went on to secure his first save of the year.

An Early Stalemate

Early on in the evening, neither team could find a rhythm in the batter’s box.

Randy Arozarena knocked in a two-out single in the bottom of the first, going on to steal second. He ended up stranded there following a Wander Franco strikeout.

Tampa Bay had another opportunity to strike in the second inning after Luke Raley blasted a double deep into right field for a leadoff double with no outs. The Rays then went on to go down swinging on strikes in back-to-back plate appearances before a Manuel Margot ground out ended the inning prematurely.

Once again, in the third inning, the Rays left more runners on base. Yandy Diaz belted a single into center, and Lowe followed him up with a walk. Yet the Rays could not bring either runner home. With one out already on the board, Arozarena flew out to center field and Franco grounded out to second.

Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta had encountered his fair share of jams already just three innings into the game, yet he managed to escape them every time.

Refsnyder with the web gem! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/xi2v8smH6a

— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 10, 2023

Both sides went quiet at the bats in for a while after Diaz’s single. Between the fourth and seventh innings, the Rays and Red Sox only combined for two hits total. Eventually, the game started to heat back up in the eighth inning.

Lowe Lifts the Rays to Glory

In the top of the eighth inning, Alex Verdugo led off with a walk for Boston.

After the Rays snagged a fly out, the Red Sox elected to substitute Bobby Dalbec in as a pinch hitter for Triston Casas. The decision paid off, as Dalbec knocked a single into shallow left field.

Two at-bats later, following another Boston fly out, Enrique Hernandez walked to first to load the bases. Up next to bat for the Red Sox was star third baseman Rafael Devers.

Tampa Bay faced a nightmare scenario here: scoreless game, bases loaded and Colin Poche facing perhaps the most talented hitter in Boston’s line-up.

In spite of the daunting situation, Poche got to work right away. He caught Devers swinging on a slider for strike one. Devers then knocked out a pair of foul balls to extend the count to 0-2. Poche then threw a fastball right down the heart of the plate. Devers let it fly by him.

Strike three.

All three Red Sox runners ended up stranded on base.

😤 @colinpoche pic.twitter.com/pfeOjEDqoT

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 11, 2023

Lowe ended up making Boston pay for abandoning those runs. Following a Diaz pop out to second base, Lowe saw nine pitches in the subsequent at-bat before cracking a hit out over the right field wall. The ball traveled 404 feet before landing in the Tropicana Field stands.

The Rays had finally gotten on the scoreboard, and they now led 1-0.

Bad news for our enemies:

B. Lowe is HOT pic.twitter.com/sNHhkn5dsG

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 11, 2023

With Tampa Bay now in the driver’s seat, Fairbanks took care of business on the mound in the top of the ninth. He struck out Boston’s three-hole hitter Justin Turner before forcing a pair of ground outs to end the game.

Just like that, the Rays had kept their historic run alive.

Coming Up Next

Monday’s victory gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in their midweek series against the Red Sox. They will have a chance to clinch the series and extend their win streak to 11 games Tuesday at 6:40 p.m.