Kevin Kiermaier hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh inning, Manuel Margot had four hits and the Tampa Bay Rays edged the host Boston Red Sox 8-7 Monday night.
Kiermaier had three RBIs and two stolen bases, and Michael Perez drove in a pair as the Rays won for the fourth time in their last five games. Margot, Kiermaier and Perez combined to go 8-for-13 from the bottom third of the lineup to lead a 16-hit Tampa Bay attack.
Kevin Plawecki and Jonathan Arauz had three hits and two RBIs apiece for the Red Sox, who lost for the second time in their last three games.
After the Rays tied the game at 4 in the fifth inning, the teams exchanged runs in the sixth to set the stage for Tampa Bay’s rally off Jeffrey Springs (0-1) in the seventh.
Yoshi Tsutsugo and Margot singled to start the frame, and Kiermaier went the opposite way into the gap in left-center to put Tampa Bay up for good at 7-5.
Margot, who entered the game 3-for-33 on the season, added a key insurance run with an RBI double in the eighth, as the Red Sox scored two in the bottom of the inning for the final margin. Arauz, who had his first major league hit earlier in the contest, singled home a pair for his first RBIs.
Aaron Loup (1-0) earned the win in relief. Andrew Kittredge worked around a single to get the final two outs in the ninth for his first career save.
Xander Bogaerts doubled home a run in the first inning as the Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The Rays got one back on a Kiermaier RBI single in the second before Boston restored its three-run advantage on J.D. Martinez’s first homer of the season in the third.
The Rays got within 4-3 in the fourth on a bloop two-run single from Perez just out of reach from Bogaerts at shortstop.
Ryan Yarbrough started for Tampa Bay and gave up four runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. Boston opener Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless first.
–Field Level Media
