For the second time in the past week, David Price played the role of stopper for the Boston Red Sox.
The veteran southpaw turned in yet another sharp outing, tossing six innings of one-run baseball to lift the Red Sox to a 5-1 win in the nightcap of a day-night doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Price matched a season-high with 10 strikeouts and only allowed five hits.
The Red Sox, who dropped the first two contests of the four-game set, were aided by a pair of two-RBI doubles, one of which came from an unlikely source.
With the win, Boston improved to 34-31, while Tampa Bay dropped to 39-24.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Needed.
Another dud against their division foe would have been troublesome for the Red Sox.
ON THE BUMP
— Price came out firing, striking out three of the first five batters he faced before allowing his first hit of the game with two outs in the second. The left-hander proceeded to log 1-2-3 third and fourth innings but ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth.
Willy Adames drew a walk to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a Price balk. After making his way to third on a Mike Zunino ground out, Adames made a push to score the Rays’ first run on an infield bouncer to first base. Michael Chavis’ throw home beat Adames, and the umpires ultimately confirmed via review that the Tampa Bay shortstop was out.
Price wasn’t able to depart the inning unscathed, however, as a Christian Arroyo single followed by a Guillermo Heredia double put the visitors on the board. Tampa Bay nearly tacked on more in the sixth, but Price managed to work around two singles and a walk en route to a scoreless frame.
The veteran southpaw finished the night with 103 pitches, 64 of which for strikes.
— The seventh belonged to Brandon Workman, who struck out two in a scoreless frame.
— Marcus Walden kept the Rays off the scoreboard in the eighth inning despite allowing a one-out double off the bat of Austin Meadows.
— Matt Barnes struck out two in a scoreless ninth to lock down the Red Sox victory.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox drew first blood in the third inning, which began with back-to-back singles from Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi. Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers followed with strikeouts, but Chavis made sure the base knocks weren’t wasted by lacing a two-out, two-RBI double.
— Boston posted its third run in the fifth. Betts roped a two-out double and was pushed to third on a Benintendi groundout. Bogaerts brought in the reigning American League MVP with a sacrifice fly.
— The sixth provided some insurance for the home team. Chavis led off the inning with a walk, followed by a Brock Holt single. After Jackie Bradley Jr. was intentionally walked with one out, Marco Hernandez smacked a two-RBI double to swell the Red Sox’s lead to four.
— Benintendi, Chavis, Holt and Hernandez all logged one hit on the night. Betts (2-for-3, walk, two runs scored) was the lone Red Sox starter to collect multiple hits.
— Bogaerts, Devers, Bradley Jr. and Christian Vazquez failed to record hits.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Not bad. Not bad at all.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Rays wrap up their four-game series Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 1:05 p.m. ET.
