The Tampa Bay Rays (83-48) defeated the Boston Red Sox (75-58) 6-1 on Monday night at Tropicana Field. The win is their eighth in a row, and pushes them to 35 games above .500 for the first time in franchise history.
After Brandon Lowe homered on the very first pitch of the bottom of the first, the Red Sox got a homer from Bobby Dalbec to tie the game 1-1. The Rays took the lead in the third with an Austin Meadows single, and added runs in the fourth and sixth to take a 4-1 lead. Wander Franco drove in two runs in the eighth inning to give the Rays some separation as they went on to a 6-1 win.
Luis Patino (4-3, 4.24) allowed one earned run on five hits in five and two-thirds innings of work while striking out five and walking one, while Nick Pivetta (9-7, 4.67) allowed four earned runs in the loss for Boston.
The Rays and Red Sox now meet in game two of the three game series on Tuesday night. First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 7:10 PM on Tuesday - pregame coverage begins with Jay Recher and the Inside Pitch at 6:00 PM on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES