The Tampa Bay Rays (76-58) defeated the Boston Red Sox (67-70) 8-4 on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. The Rays are now a season high eighteen games above .500 and trail the Yankees by 4.5 games in the AL East standings.
Randy Arozarena blasted a three-run homer to center field in the first inning - that broke a camera positioned on the outfield wall - to give the Rays an early 3-0 lead. Triston Casas homered in the second to pull within 3-2, but Harold Ramirez hit a two-run single in the third to push the Rays lead back to 6-2.
In the sixth inning Christian Bethancourt and Yu Chang each hit solo homers to push the Rays lead to 7-2. Francisco Mejia hit a RBI double in the seventh to make it 8-2. Former Ray Tommy Pham hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to make it 8-4, which would be as close as the Rays would get.
J.T. Chargois pitched the first two innings of the game, allowing two earned runs on two hits while striking out one and walking none. Garrett Cleavinger (1-1, 6.52) picked up the win out of the bullpen after pitching two scoreless innings.
The Rays now look to sweep the Red Sox in the three game series on Wednesday night. First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 6:40 PM on Wednesday - Jay Recher begins pregame coverage at 5:30 PM on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES