FORT MYERS, Fla. --
WHO: Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
WHEN: 1:05 p.m.
WHERE: jetBlue Park, Fort Myers.
TV/RADIO: NESN, WEEI 850 AM
PITCHING MATCHUP: LHP Roenis Elias vs. RHP Jacob Faria
OTHER PITCHERS SCHEDULED TODAY: RHP Brandon Workman, RHP Heath Hembree, RHP Kyle Martin, LHP Bobby Poyner and RHP Ty Buttrey.
PITCHERS SCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY: LHP Brian Johnson; RHP Joe Kelly, RHP Matt Barnes, RHP Carson Smith, LHP Robby Scott and RHP Marcus Walden
IN GAME UPDATES/OBSERVATIONS:
- In the first, Rafael Devers doubled off the left field wall to score Jackie Bradley Jr. with the game's first run. An infield groundout by Mitch Moreland then scored Andrew Benintendi, doubling the Red Sox' lead. Finally, a wall double by Brock Holt delivered Devers.
- Roenis Elias tossed two shutout innings, allowing two hits while fanning two. He threw 29 pitches, 18 for strikes.
- An error by Devers in the third resulted in two unearned runs being scored against Brandon Workman.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
RAYS:
NEWS AND NOTES
- Roenis Elias get a look Saturday as the Red Sox continue to hold back their established starters. Alex Cora said the Sox want him to pick one arm angle and stick with it. Elias has had a habit of changing arm slots and losing effectiveness. "He needs to be more consistent with his arm slow,'' said Cora. "He tries to trick hitters and at the end, he's tricking himself. If he (gets) more consistent, that stuff will play. You don't have to try too hard. Either sidearm, three-quarters, over the top. He's been so inconsistent that we need him to pick one.''
- Cora said Eduardo Rodriguez has made good progress following his knee surgery and is close to getting on a mound.
- Cora projected that when he plots out the rotation, he'll likely have Rick Porcello -- the lone righty -- will be "somewhere in the middle,'' splitting up the four lefties (Chris Sale, David Price, Drew Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez).
- After one Grapefruit League game, Cora said there's lots of work still to do to understand the vagaries of the new mound visit rule. "This visit thing, we have to work on it,'' he said. "There's stuff going on. It's a work in progress. It's going to be interesting. It's more complicated than people think.''