The Tampa Bay Rays (43-31) lost their seventh consecutive game, 9-5 to the Boston Red Sox (44-29) on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. The story of the night, though, was the big league debut of Wander Franco, who had a night to remember.
After walking in his first at bat in the first inning, Wander flew out to center field in the third inning. He had the moment of a lifetime, though, when he came to the plate in the fifth inning with the Rays trailing the Red Sox 5-2. He launched his first major league hit for a home run to tie the game 5-5 and send the Tropicana Field crowd into a frenzy. The crowd continued to react until Wander gave the home fans a curtain call in the moments after the home run.
All told Wander finished the night 2-for4 with three runs driven in and two runs scored in his major league debut. The game would remain tied 5-5 heading into extra innings, and neither team would be able to score in the tenth inning. In the eleventh the Red Sox got four runs across - the Rays had no answer in the bottom of the frame as they took their seventh consecutive loss.
Andrew Kittredge pitched two-thirds of an inning as an opener, before Ryan Yarbrough gave up five runs, all of them earned, in two innings of work. Pete Fairbanks (1-3, 3.05) took the loss after pitching both the tenth and eleventh innings.
The Rays now look to snap their losing streak, and even up the three game series with the Red Sox on Wednesday night. First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 PM - pregame coverage begins with Jay Recher and the Inside Pitch at 6 PM on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES