Boston 4, Tampa Bay 2
When: 7:10 PM ET, Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Adam Hamari, 1B -
Dan Bellino, 2B -
Tom Hallion, 3B -
Phil Cuzzi
Attendance:
10642
By Field Level Media
Mookie Betts hit his majors' leading 16th home run and Chris Sale struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball as the visiting Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 to open a three-game series Tuesday night.
Betts' blast was a three-run shot, putting him one home run ahead of teammate J.D. Martinez and Baltimore's Manny Machado for the most in the majors. Rafael Devers launched a solo homer for Boston, which won for the fifth time in six games.
Sale (5-1) was charged with one earned run on four hits and two walks.
Willy Adames' first hit in his MLB debut was a solo shot against Sale, and Daniel Robertson also had an RBI for Tampa Bay. The Rays have lost back-to-back games after their MLB-best six-game win streak.
Tampa Bay starter Jake Faria (3-3) allowed three runs on three hits and a walk while striking out two over 2 2/3 innings before leaving with a left oblique strain.
Rays catcher Wilson Ramos also exited in the third after being hit on his glove hand by a ball. Ramos was diagnosed with a left hand contusion and is day-to-day. Jesus Sucre took over behind the plate.
Boston has won eight of 11 against Tampa Bay this season.
In Adames' first at-bat, he struck out on a 97-mph fastball from Sale to end the Rays' first.
Betts homered in the third on a 3-2 breaking ball from Faria. The ball sailed approximately 405 feet into the left-field seats. Sandy Leon walked and Jackie Bradley Jr. singled to bring up Betts.
Adames homered to left in the fourth, blasting Sale's 1-0 off-speed offering an estimated 385 feet to make it 3-1. Robertson's sacrifice fly one inning later brought the Rays within a run.
Devers' approximate 362-foot homer to right in the sixth, his ninth this year, restored Boston's two-run lead.
Tampa Bay loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but Craig Kimbrel got Mallex Smith to ground out to second for his 14th save.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Boston |
|
Tampa Bay |
|
Chris Sale
|
Player |
Jake Faria
|
|
Win |
W/L |
Loss |
|
7.2 |
IP |
2.2 |
|
9 |
Strikeouts |
2 |
|
4 |
Hits |
3 |
|
1.17 |
ERA |
10.12 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Boston
|
7 |
2 |
13 |
.226 |
8 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| Tampa Bay
|
6 |
1 |
11 |
.194 |
13 |
11 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |