ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- After surviving another unsettling eighth inning, the Red Sox held on for a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays Saturday night, riding the hot bat of Xander Bogaerts.
Bogaerts hit a solo homer in the second and added an RBI-double in the sixth as part of a three-hit night. He has eight hits in three games, including five doubles.
Rick Porcello allowed one run in 5.1 innings for the third straight strong start from the Boston rotation. Rookie Bobby Poyner yielded a solo homer to Carlos Gomez to open the eighth, but Carson Smith, after allowing a single and stolen base, stranded the potential tying run in scoring position. Craig Kimbrel turned back the Rays in the ninth for his second save in as many games.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
WHEN: 6:10 p.m.
WHERE: Tropicana Field
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Rick Porcello vs. RHP Andrew Kittredge
SEASON SERIES: 1-1
BOX SCORE: MLB.com
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:08: Carson Smith strands the tying run on second when he gets Adeiny Hechavarria to fly to center. Smith had some nasty stuff. The one hit he allowed was a 43-hopper through the middle of the infield.
8:51: With Sergio Romo on for the Rays, the Sox have the bases loaded, but Sandy Leon strikes out to leave three runners stranded.
8:36: Poyner does his job, jamming Kevin Kiermaier and getting him to pop the ball up weakly to the left side for the final out of the inning.
8:32: Bobby Poyner, one of the nice stories from spring training, is on for his major league debut. Hembree got the first two hitters before walking Denard Span. Poyner has never pitched above Double A before.
8:11: The Streak is over -- the Red Sox' starters' streak, that is. After Porcello was lifted with runners at the corners and one out, Joey Wendle greeted Heath Hembree with a sac fly to left, scoring Carlos Gomez with the Rays' first run. It's the first run allowed by a Red Sox starter this season.
8:03: Carlos Gomez opens the Rays' sixth with a shot to right center that drops in just before the warning track. That's a ball that I think Jackie Bradley Jr. catches -- or comes a lot closer to getting to than Andrew Benintendi, who never really had a chance.
7:49: Tough to imagine a better start to the season for Xander Bogaerts. After J.D. Martinez recorded his first hit as a Red Sox -- an opposite-field double -- Bogaerts ripped a double to left, scoring Martinez and making it 3-0. Bogaerts has five doubles and a homer in 11 at-bats so far.
7:42: Porcello, faced with his first real jam of the night -- two on, one out -- fans Denard Span on three pitches, then gets Kevin Kiermaier to pop out to third. Seven pitches, two outs recorded.
7:36: Nice play by Eduardo Nunez, making his first appearance at third base this season. Fielded turf chopper by Mallex Smith on his backhand, and knowing that Smith runs well, threw across infield immediately to nab him at first.
7:27: Through four innings, Porcello actually has more outs in the air (seven) than on the ground (three).
7:16: Hanley's alert baserunning pays off. After stealing third, he scores as Brad Miller can't dig out a bounced throw from third baseman Matt Duffy. Sox lead 2-0.
7:13: Not held on at second and with Matt Duffy playing far off the line at third, Hanley Ramirez takes off for third and steals third base standing up. He now needs just 29 more stolen bases to make good on half of his prediction of a 30-30 season.
7:06: The revolving door us underway for the Rays in this "bullpen game,'' as starter Andrew Kittredge is lifted with one out in the fourth, giving way to lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who is making his major league debut.
7:03: First extra-base hit of the year for Hanley Ramirez, who rifles a double to left-center to lead off the fourth.
6:59: Porcello gets the ground ball that he needs from Kevin Kiermaier, with Xander Bogaerts taking a few steps to his left and stepping on second for an inning-ending forceout.
6:57: With the Sox shifting around, Denard Span pokes a ball through the third base hole, and, following a two-out walk to Jesus Sucre, the Rays have first-and-second and a bit of a threat against Porcello.
6:50: Rick Porcello is pitching ahead so far, with first-pitch strikes to five of the first seven hitters he's faced.
6:25: Xander Bogaerts continues to enjoy an incredible first series. After four doubles in his first two games, Bogaerts launches a solo homer to left, giving the Red Sox a quick 1-0 lead in the second.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi CF
Ramirez DH
Martinez LF
Bogaerts SS
Moreland
Nunez 3B
Holt 2B
Leon C
RAYS
Span DH
Kiermaier CF
Gomez RF
Miller 1B
Duffy 3B
Wendle 2B
Hechavarria SS
Smith LF
Sucre C
NEWS AND NOTES:
- Saturday marks the regular season debut for J.D. Martinez in the outfield. He's in left, with Andrew Benintendi sliding over the center and Jackie Bradley Jr. out of the lineup. Alex Cora is uncertain of his plans for the next few days, but he'll probably use the same lineup combination at least once in the upcoming two-game series in Miami, where, of course, the Sox won't have the luxury of the DH.
- The Sox are still being careful with third baseman Rafael Devers, who suffered a knee contusion Monday. Devers gets the night off from the tough Tropicana Field artificial turf, with Eduardo Nunez moving from second to third and Brock Holt getting his first start of the season at second. Cora said Nunez is a bit more comfortable at third than second.
- Xander Bogaerts, with two doubles in each of the first two games, is the first Red Sox player to do so since Andre Dawson in 1994. The last Red Sox player to collect doubles in his first two games -- though they weren't the first two games of the season for the team -- was Jason Varitek in 2010.
- The Sox allowed a total of eight hits in the first two games. The last time the Sox allowed four hits or fewer in each of their first two games was 1918.
- With Sandy Leon behind the plate, Holt at second and Mitch Moreland at first, the only Red Sox position player to not start a game is Blake Swihart. "We'll see,'' said Cora. "That's a tough one because we play the National League in the upcoming days, so he'll pinch-hit. Defensively, we've got the other two guys (Leon and Christian Vazquez) behind the plate. We know where we're at. It's a work in progress. We feel comfortable with him on the field, but right now it's a little tougher to get him in there. Hopefully, we can get him in there before we get home. That's the goal.''