Final, Rays 8-4: Juan Sandoval came in to pitch for the Rays and closed out the game without too much damage. The Red Sox managed three extra-base hits in the inning but couldn’t erase their sizable deficit.
Deven Herrera had the bright spot for this Red Sox offense, though, when he jumped all over a hanging breaking ball and sent it flying well over the left field wall for a home run.
Peter Hissey struck out swinging, but Ryan Lavarnway got his second hit of the day with a two-out double into the left-center gap. Sean Coyle picked up where Lavarnway left off, hitting a ground-rule RBI double, but Deven Marrero grounded out on a one-hopper to end the game.
End 8th, Rays 8-2: Jose Mijares made his way to the mound for the Sox and retired the side.
Mid 8th, Rays 8-2: The Rays brought in right-hander Mark Lowe, who made easy work of the Red Sox. Lowe had a nice 1-2-3 inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr. struck out swinging, Dan Butler flied out to left field and Mike McCoy struck out swinging.
End 7th, Rays 8-2: Francisco Cordero was called in for the Red Sox, and the right-hander did what he could to keep things under control, but the first batter he faced — Rays outfielder Brandon Guye — was able to get on base. The Sox turned a double play, though, when Wilson Betemit chopped one to first base.
Jeremy Moore hit his third home run in spring training last week, but Cordero caught him swinging to end the inning.
Mid 7th, Rays 8-2: The Sox found a bit of offense this inning but not enough to catch up to Tampa Bay.
Mike Carp found his way on base with a hit to left-center field, and he was replaced at first base by pinch-runner Mike McCoy.
David Price struck out Mike Napoli and Deven Marrero for the pitcher’s sixth and seventh strikeouts of the game. Price also gave up his first walk of the game, sending Corey Brown to first base, and Rays manager Joe Maddon decided it was time for a change on the mound.
Heath Bell replaced Price, and Ryan Lavarnway cracked a base hit to left field, driving in McCoy to put the Sox on the board.
Brock Holt knocked a ground-rule double down the left field line, and Corey Brown added another run for the Sox, but Ryan Lavarnway grounded out to end the inning.
End 6th, Rays 8-0: Well, that didn’t go how the Red Sox would have hoped.
Wilson Betemit struck out swinging in the second inning and grounded out in the fourth, but he finally got some solid contact and got on base to start the inning for the Rays.
Drake Britton recorded his first walk of the day as he sent Logan Forsythe on his merry way to first base.
Ryan Hanigan flied out to Jackie Bradley Jr. in center field for the first out of the inning, but David DeJesus hit a ground-rule double and drove in Betemit to continue the Rays’ domination.
Brock Holt recorded the second out of the inning when he reeled in a line drive by Ben Zobrist.
The Rays loaded the bases when Britton walked his second batter of the inning, Evan Longoria. James Loney capitalized and drove in two runs on a shallow hit to left field.
And that’s when it was over for Britton. Red Sox manager John Farrell decided to stick a fork in Britton for the day after an inning and 2/3 of relief. Right-hander Brayan Villarreal came to the mound for the Sox and struck out Yunel Escobar to end the inning.
Mid 6th, Rays 5-0: It was more of the same lack for the Red Sox in the sixth.
Brock Holt flied out to center field to start the inning. Jonathan Herrera had a base hit taken away when Evan Longoria showed some hops, pulling down a hit and throwing to first base.
Jackie Bradley Jr. found the left-center field gap for a solid double, giving the Sox a shot at something in the inning, but next up was David Ross, who had struggled all day. Ross, who struck out in the first and flied out in the third, couldn’t keep any momentum going for the Sox as he flied out to center field to end the inning.
End 5th, Rays 5-0: The Rays pulled even further ahead with some strong offensive production.
Ryan Hanigan walked for the second time, as Allen Webster got close to his pitch limit. Red Sox manager John Farrell decided to make the change, and Drake Britton came on in relief.
Britton’s first pitch was a ball to David DeJesus. DeJesus got a crack at one of the next pitches, though, knocking it into shallow left field and giving the Rays two men on base.
Ben Zobrist drove in the third Tampa Bay run with a line drive to right field. Hanigan scored from second base, extending the Rays’ lead.
Evan Longoria flied out to Corey Brown in center field, and Brown was able to get the ball to David Ross at home to keep DeJesus in position at third base. But James Loney knocked a long double to the gap in left-center field, and DeJesus and Zobrist scored to help the Rays pull ahead even further.
Loney advanced to third base after a pitch got away from David Ross, but Britton struck out Yunel Escobar for the second out of the inning.
The Sox kept the Rays from scoring any more runs when Jonathan Herrera fielded a hopper by Matt Joyce and connected with Mike Napoli at first base for the out.
Mid 5th, Rays 2-0: Another 1-2-3 inning in the books for the Rays, and Red Sox reliever Drake Britton has started warming up in the Boston bullpen.
Jonathan Herrera took a cut at a ball that was way out of the strike zone, but the ball got away from Hanigan a bit, so Herrera took off for first. Unfortunately, Hanigan was able to get the ball to first before Herrera could for the first out.
Ben Zobrist was in perfect position to scoop up Corey Brown’s grounder to second base, and Zobrist flipped it to first for the out.
Ryan Lavarnway cracked his bat as he flied out the center field to end the inning.
End 4th, Rays 2-0: Allen Webster kept things together this half inning, with some solid support from his defense — the Rays batters all went down in order.
Matt Joyce flied out on his first pitch from Webster to start the inning. Wilson Betemit got solid contact on a line drive toward right field, but Brock Holt laid out and caught it. David Ross caught a Logan Forsythe popup in foul ground to end the inning.
Mid 4th, Rays 2-0: David Price seems to be back to full health, and the Red Sox don’t seem able to break out on offense.
David Ross quickly flied out to David DeJesus in center field. Mike Carp, who struck out in the first inning, followed up with more of the same in the fourth. Mike Napoli lined to left field, but Logan Forsythe showed some stretch when he reached out and pulled the ball in for the out.
End 3rd, Rays 2-0: Things didn’t go as badly as they could have for Allen Webster, and the Red Sox escaped the inning with the bases loaded by the Rays.
Allen Webster walked Andover, Mass., native Ryan Hanigan on four pitches to open the inning. Hanigan advanced to second base when David DeJesus knocked a sacrifice bunt into the infield. Webster corralled the ball and got it to first base for the out.
Webster walked his second batter of the inning in Ben Zobrist, putting two men on base for the Rays with one out.
Evan Longoria knocked a line drive right to Jonathan Harrera, who had the chance to end the inning on a double play, but Brock Holt just couldn’t hold onto the ball.
James Loney came up to bat with the bases loaded and one out, and it turned into a run for the Rays. Webster pitched one high, and the ball glanced off David Ross’ glove and got away from him as Ryan Hanigan scored from third base. Loney ended up striking out looking.
Yunel Escobar had a nice hit down the third base line, and he seemed confused about whether it was fair or foul and didn’t really make a move to first base. That gave Herrera plenty of time to throw a laser to first base and close out the inning.
Mid 3rd, Rays 1-0: The Red Sox still aren’t on the board after three chances on the offensive side of things.
Ryan Lavarnway knocked one toward left field, but Yunel Escobar corralled the ball on a high hop to get the out.
Brock Holt made things easy for the Rays, hitting a grounder right to second baseman Ben Zobristm who flipped to first for the out.
Jonathan Herrera stayed in things with a couple of good cuts that went foul, and he eventually knocked one down the first base line. It looked like Zobrist might make a stellar play on the ball, but he couldn’t get in proper position to get the ball to first in time.
Jackie Bradley Jr. knocked one right to Zobrist, who flipped the ball to second base for the forceout to end the inning.
End 2nd, Rays 1-0: Allen Webster enjoyed a 1-2-3 second inning.
Matt Joyce knocked a grounder down the first base line, and Brock Holt gathered the ball and slung it to Mike Napoli for the out at first.
Wilson Betemit struck out on a Webster curveball, and Logan Forsythe flied out the center to end the inning.
Mid 2nd, Rays 1-0: David Price knocked down the Sox in order in the second.
Mike Napoli hit one high to right field, but Rays right fielder Matt Joyce tracked the ball down for the first out of the inning.
Will Middlebrooks struck out swinging for the second out. Corey Brown got caught by Price, too, striking out looking.
End 1st, Rays 1-0: Will Middlebrooks was involved in a number of plays to start the game and ultimately helped end the inning.
Allen Webster struck out David DeJesus to start things off for the Sox. Ben Zobrist hit a ground-rule double after Mike Carp couldn’t chase down the ball as it took flight with the help of some big wind gusts. Evan Longoria then struck out on a Webster breaking ball.
Ben Zobrist scored after James Loney hit a blooper and Middlebrooks tried to make a play on the ball with his bare hands. Middlebrooks bobbled the ball, and Zobrist hustled to score the run from second base, while Loney landed safely at first.
Middlebrooks somewhat made up for his earlier unsteady play when he stopped a line drive by Yunel Escobar and delivered it to Mike Napoli at first base. The ball didn’t reach first in time to nab Escobar, but Napoli was able to throw a zinger and get Loney out at third base.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Jackie Bradley Jr. started things off in the leadoff spot, and after six pitches, David Price hit him on his right elbow. That gave Bradley a free base to start things off for the Red Sox.
David Ross took an unusual at-bat in the No. 2 spot, a temporary spring training change.
“This is about getting him the greatest number of at-bats we can get with (him) catching six innings,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said, via the Extra Bases blog. “Certainly that’s not his normal spot in the lineup. But figure he’s probably going to handle [starter Allen] Webster and [left-hander Drake] Britton today, and try to get him at least three at-bats.”
Bradley did his best to steal second during Ross’ at-bat, but he was caught by Price, and Ben Zobrist was able to tag him out at second.
Ross hit a grounder off a cut fastball, but Zobrist corralled the ball and flipped it to James Loney for the out.
Mike Carp struck out looking to end the inning.
1:08 p.m.: David Price throws the first pitch for a ball, and we’re off.
10:15 a.m. ET: The Boston Red Sox will travel to Port Charlotte, Fla., to take on the Tampa Bay Rays at Charlotte Sports Park.
Right-hander Allen Webster will take the mound for the Red Sox, squaring off against Rays left-hander David Price. Webster is starting his fourth game of the spring, all on the road. He has allowed five earned runs over eight innings.
Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks sat out Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies because of a jammed right middle finger, but he is in the lineup for Sunday’s game.
Sunday’s action is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Be sure to keep it right here with NESN.com’s live blog while also tuning in on NESN.
Check out the starting lineups below.
Boston Red Sox
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Corey Brown, RF
Brock Holt, 2B
Ryan Lavarnway, DH
Mike Carp, LF
Mike Napoli, 1B
Jonathan Herrera, SS
David Ross, C
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Allen Webster, RHP
Tampa Bay Rays
David DeJesus, CF
Ben Zobrist, 2B
Evan Longoria, 3B
James Loney, 1B
Yunel Escobar, SS
Matt Joyce, RF
Wilson Betemit, DH
Logan Forsyth, LF
Ryan Hanigan, C
David Price, LHP
