The Boston Red Sox (66-50) defeated the Tampa Bay Rays (69-45) 20-8 on Wednesday night to even the three game series at one game apiece. The win also pulls Boston back within four games of the Rays for first place in the American League East.
The Red Sox took control of this game early, scoring three runs in the first and two in the second. They began to pull away with five runs in the fourth and four runs in the fifth before adding six runs in the eighth to put together a 20-run output.
Josh Fleming (9-6, 4.960 struggled in this one, allowing ten runs, all of them earned, on eleven hits in just three and a third innings of work while striking out three and walking six. After Diterich Enns allowed three runs out of the bullpen in three and two thirds innings of work, catcher Francscio Mejia came out to work the eighth and allowed six earned runs.
Offensively, the Rays were quiet for much of the game, getting only a solo homer from Brandon Lowe in the sixth inning. In the ninth inning when the game was already out of hand, the Rays came through with seen runs, including a grand slam from Brett Phillips, to get eight runs home but would still fall by the final score of 20-8.
The Rays and Red Sox now prepare for the rubber game of the three game series on Thursday afternoon. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 4:10 PM - pregame coverage begins with the Inside Pitch hosted by Pat Donovan and Aaron Jacobson at 3:00 PM on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES