The Red Sox refused to say die Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
Trailing the Tampa Bay Rays for the majority of the American League East clash, Boston sent the contest into extras via a Christian Vazquez game-tying home run in the ninth inning. After a scoreless 10th and both teams putting up a single run in the 11th, the Red Sox walked it off in the 12th courtesy of a two-out, two-RBI double off the bat of J.D. Martinez.
It was a full-team win for the Sox, who received a solid start from Martin Perez in his season debut as well as a sharp collective outing from six relievers. Boston manager Alex Cora unsurprisingly was pleased to see all of his players battle until the very end.
“We didn’t stop playing,” Cora told reporters, per MassLive. “That’s the mark of a good team. It didn’t look great at one point, but we kept fighting and we kept them within distance. The pitching staff did an amazing job. We made some plays. I don’t remember every play of the game but we kept fighting.”
After suffering a sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles to begin the 2021 campaign, the Red Sox can pick up a sweep of their own Wednesday afternoon when they wrap up their three-game set with the Rays. The series finale, which is set to begin at 1:10 p.m. ET, is slated to feature a starting pitching matchup of Boston’s Nathan Eovaldi against Tampa southpaw Ryan Yarbrough.
