The Tampa Bay Rays faced the Boston Red Sox in the first of three games Monday and fell 7-3. Aaron Civale shined early, but the Red Sox surged late to overcome the Tampa Bay lead. The Rays dropped to 83-55 while the Red Sox improved to 72-66.
Boston has won three in a row, while the Rays are 1-3 in their last four games.
Back at it with Zach Eflin on the hill tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/9nQ9EWv4m9
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 4, 2023
The Rays started the game hot, scoring their three runs in the first inning. Josh Lowe, Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe scored for Tampa Bay. The Rays had just five hits and no home runs.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, started slow. Boston didn’t score a run until the fourth inning, when it had just one cross the plate. Its late-game comeback was thanks to two, 3-run innings in the sixth and eighth innings. Wilyer Abreu, Rafael Devers, Justin Turner, Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida all scored. The team as a whole compiled seven hits and two home runs, the latter of which were thanks to Yoshida and Casas.
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1698825927348605041
The Rays started Aaron Civale on the mound until he left the game early in the sixth inning. He allowed just two hits and set a career-high in strikeouts with 12. However, he was responsible for giving up three runs to Boston.
The Red Sox started Brayan Bello, who played six innings and allowed five hits. He also had 7 strikeouts. Boston’s relief pitching in Josh Winckowski, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen allowed no hits and was key in the victory. Each pitched one inning.
https://twitter.com/RaysBaseball/status/1698813411759374532
The Rays will get two more shots at the Red Sox on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tampa Bay currently sits second in the AL East, 3 games behind Baltimore. The Red Sox are in fourth, but sit just 4.5 games back of a wild card spot. Zach Eflin (13-8) will start on the hill for Tampa Bay on Tuesday.