The Tampa Bay Rays scored three runs in the top of the first, but then were held without any the rest of the way as the Boston Red Sox scored seven unanswered runs to take a 7-3 win Friday night at Fenway Park in the first game of a seven game homestand.
Joey Wendle hit a two run double, and Carlos Gomez an RBI single in Tampas first at bat off Sox starter Brian Johnson to give the visitors a quick 3-0 lead. A two run triple by Xander Bogaerts in Bostons first at bat in the bottom half of the inning cut it quickly to a 3-2 score.
Eduardo Nunez tied it with an RBI single for the Sox in the bottom of the fourth. Boston took over the lead for good at 4-3 when Mitch Moreland singled in Mookie Betts in the bottom of the fifth. Jackie Bradley added an RBI double in the sixth, and JD Martinez added an RBI single and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to finish off the scoring.
Bogaerts finished with three hits, two doubles and a triple, and two RBI. Moreland and Bradley Jr had a pair of hits each. Betts go ahead run was his 100th run scored of the season, making him only the second player in Sox history to score 100 runs or more in three different seasons, with the only other being Ted Williams. Seven players had at least one hit in the game for Boston. Mallex Smith and Wendle had two hits a piece for Tampa.
Johnson (4-3) ended up getting the win, settling in after a tough first inning. Johnson allowed three runs, five hits, two walks, with two strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Heath Hembree, Ryan Brasier, Matt Barnes, and Tyler Thornburg combined to allow no runs, two hits, with five strikeouts over final 3.1 innings out of the bullpen. Hembree got his 18th hold of 2018, while Brasier got his fourth. Barnes worked out of trouble in the eighth inning, as Tampa got two runners on and no outs on an infield single and hit batsman. Barnes got a strikeout, a pop out, and another strikeout to escape. Ryne Stanek started and only went 1.0 inning for the Rays, while reliever Yonny Chirnos (1-5) pitched the next 6.0 innings and got the loss allowing five runs on nine hits.
Game two of the three game set is scheduled for 7:10 Saturday night. David Price toes the rubber for Boston, opposed by righty Tyler Glasnow for Tampa.
