Tampa Bay’s offense was just too much for Boston when the Rays exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to defeating the Red Sox 9-3 and tying the MLB record for most consecutive wins (13) to start a season.
Tampa is just doing everything right, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora tipped his hat to them in the loss.
“They won what, 13 in a row? They’re playing good baseball, you know, they’re really good at what they do, and they’re playing good,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “So they got a good thing going, you know, the one thing that we have to do is turn the page and be ready for tomorrow. That’s the most important thing.”
One play stood out in the game when Rays’ center fielder Manuel Margot pinch-hit for Luke Raley in the bottom of the fifth, and he reached on a bunt back to Red Sox pitcher Richard Bleier.
“I mean, you thought he was going to bunt?” Cora asked the reporters. “That’s where they are confidence-wise right now. … Everything’s going well, and you gotta tip your hat because they’re playing excellent baseball right now.”
Reliever Richard Bleier echoed his manager’s thoughts when he spoke about the four runs he gave up in the fifth before recording the final out.
“It would have been great to do my job,” Bleier told reporters on NESN’s postgame coverage. “But it’s just sometimes, it just doesn’t work out that way.
“… And this was a core outing and a real bad game for me and left to a tough loss definitely where you know, we had the lead, and I let go of that. So you know, just kind of move forward and just gonna keep going.”
Tampa swept the four-game series, out-scoring Boston 26-12.
Here are more notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-Rays Game:
— The Red Sox offense as a whole struggled at the plate, connecting for only four hits in the game and being stymied after the top of the fifth.
— Red Sox designated hitter Justin Turner had two of Boston’s four hits to go along with one run and an RBI.
— The Tampa Bay offense has a +71 run differential in the first 13 games of the season and improved to a still-perfect 10-0 at home.
— After wrapping up the seven-game road trip, the Red Sox return home to Fenway Park to host the Los Angeles Angels for their series opener on Friday night. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET, and the game will be aired on Apple TV+.
