Xander Bogaerts had his second straight three-hit game, Rafael Devers homered and the Boston Red Sox held on to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Bogaerts went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs in his fifth three-hit outing this season.
Alex Verdugo and Enrique Hernandez each produced two hits for the Red Sox, who won for the second time in five games this week.
Starter Michael Wacha (1-0) won in his first outing against his former club since signing with Boston in the offseason. The right-hander allowed two runs on three hits over five solid innings, with three strikeouts and two walks.
Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco, 21, drilled a pair of solo homers to become the youngest player in franchise history to notch a multi-homer game.
Yandy Diaz had two hits, but the Rays finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
In an 11-hit attack over five innings, the visitors rocked Tampa Bay starter Corey Kluber (0-1) for four runs. He struck out three and walked one over 89 pitches.
Boston strung together four hits in the first five batters against Kluber, and Verdugo’s single and Jackie Bradley Jr.’s groundout drove in runs for a 2-0 lead.
However, Franco tagged his 2021 Rays teammate in the home half of the first by ripping Wacha’s first pitch — a 93 mph four-seam fastball up — out to right to cut it to 2-1.
Devers opened the third by lofting his third homer down the right-field line, and Hernandez lined an RBI single for a 4-1 lead.
In the third, Wacha received great defense behind him to end the frame. Bogaerts’ leaping grab of Yandy Diaz’s liner headed for the left-center gap would have plated at least one, perhaps two.
Franco hit another screamer off Wacha in the fifth — producing 112.4 mph exit velocity to right — for his third of the season.
In the seventh, Brandon Lowe’s RBI groundout cut Boston’s lead to 4-3, but reliever Hansel Robles threw a perfect 1 1/3 innings before turning the lead over to Jake Diekman.
The left-hander walked the bases loaded but recorded two outs in the ninth. Matt Barnes, who had 24 saves last season, came in and earned his first save when second baseman Trevor Story made a sliding grab and threw out Franco at first base.
–Field Level Media
