A lot can change in a day, just ask the Red Sox.
Boston looked like a completely different team in Monday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays after losing two of three to the lowly Baltimore Orioles over the weekend.
The Red Sox knocked old friend Jalen Beeks around in the third when they tagged him for seven runs in the inning en route to a 9-4 victory against the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Andrew Benintendi (3-for-5) had a strong night at the plate, while Marco Hernandez (2-for-4) had himself a game both offensively and defensively. The second baseman made a fine catch in the fourth to take away a hit.
Eduardo Rodriguez was marvelous on the mound, stifling Tampa Bay’s bats after completing what arguably was his best outing of the season.
With the win, the Red Sox climbed to 55-46, while the Rays dropped to 57-46.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Complete.
Strong pitching. Plenty of offense.
ON THE BUMP
— Rodriguez started the game strong with consecutive 1-2-3 innings and carried that momentum throughout the entirety of his outing.
The southpaw tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, four walks and struck out six. Rodriguez ended his night on a high note by getting the last two batters to strikeout.
— Nathan Eovaldi made his 2019 bullpen debut in the eighth and ended the shutout bid by giving up three runs on two doubles and a single. He did get two outs by getting the batters to strikeout but was pulled from the game after giving up a two-out single to Michael Brosseau.
— Matt Barnes inherited two runners but got out of the eighth unscathed.
— Josh Taylor handled the ninth and gave up a walk and a single before Tommy Pham just missed a home run over the right-field wall and settled for an RBI-double to make it 9-4.
Taylor got the final two outs of the inning without any further damage.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox got to Beeks in the third, tagging the Rays starter for seven runs in the inning.
Rafael Devers put the first two runs on the board in the third with an RBI-two-bagger to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead, but they were far from done. Xander Bogaerts drew a walk before J.D. Martinez smacked a three-run shot to center to make it 5-0.
Benintendi and Sam Travis decided to get in on the home run fun with back-to-back solo dingers to break the game open 7-0.
— Beeks began the fourth by surrendering a single to Hernandez before getting the next two outs. His night was over after that but was tagged for an eighth run when Bogaerts smacked an RBI-double to right field off Chaz Roe.
— The Red Sox added a run in the ninth on an RBI-single off the bat of Martinez to make it 9-3.
— Benintendi led the way with three hits, while Hernandez, Martinez and Bogaerts all had two apiece.
— Martinez knocked in four of the Boston’s nine runs.
— Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. were the only Boston batters without a hit.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Rodriguez has been strong of late.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox play the series’ middle game Tuesday night. Chris Sale is expected to get the ball for Boston with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET.
