Make that two in a row for the Red Sox.
Boston narrowly defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Thursday night at Tropicana Field on the backs of hot nights from Rafael Devers and Bobby Dalbec.
Mike Kickham had a strong outing for the Sox, giving up two earned runs over four innings with eight strikeouts.
With the win, the Red Sox moved to 16-29, while the Rays dipped to 28-16.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Devers.
The third baseman had one heck of a night at the dish, driving in three of the Red Sox’s four runs.
ON THE BUMP
— Kickham got out of a rough first inning unscathed despite hitting a batter and giving up a walk.
The pitcher settled down and amassed five strikeouts between the second and third frames.
But the Rays finally got to him in the fourth when Hunter Renfroe and Brandon Lowe hit back-to-back solo home runs to tie things up at 2-2.
— Ryan Weber began the fifth and Tampa once again tied things up when Manuel Margot led the inning off with a single and later scored on an Austin Meadows double to make it 3-3.
He’d get out of the inning without any further damage.
Weber returned for the sixth and tossed a scoreless frame with three strikeouts.
— The seventh belonged to Jeffrey Springs, who pitched around a two-out walk to get out of the inning.
— Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts.
— The Rays put the tying run in scoring position in the ninth in Yoshitomo Tsutsugo with one out, but Matt Barnes closed out the game for the W.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox struck first when Alex Verdugo singled to keep the third inning alive. Devers then blasted his 10th home run of the season with two outs to make it 2-0.
— Dalbec broke the stalemate with his fifth home run in as many games. This time it was a solo shot to right to make it 3-2.
— Devers continued his strong night in the seventh when he drove in Christian Arroyo on this third hit of the night for the 4-3 lead.
— Devers led the way for Boston with three hits, while Arroyo had two. Verdugo, Bogaerts, Christian Vazquez and Dalbec each had one hit.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Goodness.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox continue their series with the Rays on Friday night. First pitch from Tropicana Field is set for 6:40 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Reinhold Matay/USA TODAY Sports Images
