Josh Lowe went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and Taj Bradley worked six shutout innings as the visiting Tampa Bay Rays edged the Boston Red Sox 2-1 to begin a season-ending, three-game series on Friday.
In a two-run seventh inning for the Rays (79-81), Lowe knocked in the game’s first run, and he later scored when Christopher Morel drew a bases-loaded walk.
Bradley (8-11) struck out seven — including at least one in each of his innings — while allowing just three hits and one walk.
Tampa Bay snapped a three-game losing streak.
Vaughn Grissom went 3-for-4 and Nick Sogard drove in a run for Boston (80-80), which wasted 6 2/3 innings of four-hit ball from starter Nick Pivetta (6-12).
Grissom recorded his third hit with a single in the ninth, but Edwin Uceta closed out the victory for his fifth save of the season.
The visitors recorded just two hits through six innings in a scoreless game, but they tagged Pivetta for a pair of go-ahead runs in the seventh. Jonathan Aranda worked a one-out walk before Johnny DeLuca knocked a base hit through the right side.
Lowe’s Green Monster-banging RBI double opened the scoring, but DeLuca was tagged out at home on a relay play to keep the score at 1-0.
Zach Penrod replaced Pivetta and walked Richie Palacios, hit Jose Caballero with a pitch, then walked Morel to force in a run. Penrod exited without recording out, with Luis Guerrero taking over on the mound and inducing an inning-ending groundout from Yandy Diaz.
When Colin Poche replaced Bradley in the bottom of the seventh, the Red Sox got one run back. Consecutive one-out singles by Grissom and Romy Gonzalez set Sogard up for a sacrifice fly.
In the fifth, Lowe grounded a single into the left field corner and advanced on Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran’s misplay. Pivetta escaped the threat, and he worked into the seventh inning for the first time since July 29.
After Penrod, Luis Guerrero and Luis Garcia combined for 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball out of Boston’s bullpen.
–Field Level Media
