The Tampa Bay Rays hit three early home runs, but had to hold on to finish off the Boston Red Sox 4-3 at Fenway Park to extend their season-long winning streak to seven straight games.
RAMOS, REFSNYDER, ROBERTSON ALL GO DEEP: Boston starter Drew Pomeranz was the latest pitcher to fall victim to an early offensive onslaught at the hands of Tampa Bay's hitters, as C.J. Cron singled with one out in the top of the first and two batters later, catcher Wilson Ramos turned on a pitch and sent it over the Green Monster in left for his third home run of the season.
Tampa Bay extended their lead in each the third and fourth innings thanks to the long ball. Rob Refsnyder, who had not homered since October 1, 2015 -- a stretch of 266 consecutive at-bats -- made it 3-0 in the third, and Daniel Robertson pushed the Rays' lead to 4-0 with his third homer of the year
Left-hander Blake Snell saw his streak of not walking a hitter come to an end at 48 consecutive batters when Mookie Betts drew a free pass to lead off the fourth, and found himself in a jam two batters later when he failed to catch a flip from first baseman Brad Miller on a J.D. Martinez ground ball, but got out of the situation when Mitch Moreland grounded into an inning-ending double play, one of two Boston twin-killings on the night.
Boston cut the deficit to 4-2 in the sixth with run-scoring doubles by both Betts and Martinez off Snell (4-1), but the left-hander departed in the eighth with a two-run advantage. Chaz Roe allowed Boston to cut the lead to 4-3 with a base hit by Martinez, scoring Betts in the eighth, but finished off the inning with the lead, and Alex Colome worked a scoreless ninth, including strikeouts of both Jackie Bradley Jr. and oinch-hitter Andrew Benintendi, for his fifth save.
SATURDAY'S MATCHUP
Rays at Boston Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. first pitch, coverage on WDAE begins at 3:00 with The Inside Pitch presented by Crown Eurocars.
Rays starter - RHP Yonny Chirinos (0-1, 2.92 ERA)
Red Sox starter - LHP David Price (2-2, 2.92 ERA)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Sunday - Rays at Red Sox, 1:05 p.m. first pitch
Monday - Rays at Tigers, 7:10 p.m. first pitch
Tuesday - Rays at Tigers, 7:10 p.m. first pitch
Wednesday - Rays at Tigers, 1:10 p.m. first pitch