David Price delivered one of his best outings in a Red Sox uniform Thursday, and he’ll look to come through once again as Boston takes on the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday at Tropicana Field.
The left-hander tossed a two-run complete game in the 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles, allowing just five hits with eight strikeouts. The quality start comes amid what has been a tumultuous campaign mired in ailments and inconsistency, but certainly such an outing could be the jolt he needs to right the ship.
Price will face a Rays lineup that he has had varying success against this season. He mowed through them in his first two outings, allowing a combined seven hits with zero runs and 10 strikeouts over 14 innings. But at the end of April, he surrendered six runs (five earned) on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings of work.
A win Wednesday will mark the Red Sox’s fourth straight. They’ll roll out the same lineup as Tuesday’s 4-2 win, with Christian Vazquez catching in lieu of Sandy Leon, and Jackie Bradley Jr. moving up one spot in the order, hitting eighth. Rays ace Chris Archer will handle the pitching for the home side.
Here are the complete lineups for Wednesday’s Red Sox vs. Rays:Â
BOSTON RED SOX (33-15)
Mookie Betts, RF
Andrew Benintendi, LF
Hanley Ramirez, 1B
J.D. Martinez, DH
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Rafael Devers, 3B
Eduardo Nunez, 2B
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Christian Vazquez, C
David Price, LHP (4-4, 4.38 ERA)
TAMPA BAY RAYS (22-24)
Denard Span, LF
C.J. Cron, 1B
Daniel Robertson, DH
Matt Duffy, 3B
Willy Adames, SS
Johnny Field, CF
Rob Refsnyder, RF
Christian Arroyo, 2B
Jesus Sucre, C
Chris Archer, RHP (3-3, 5.01 ERA)
