The Red Sox rode some late-inning power to a 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, ending a three-game losing streak and starting the big weekend series off right.
Mookie Betts snapped a 4-4 tie with a leadoff homer to open the eighth and Mitch Moreland followed immediately after with a solo homer of his own.
The Sox had lead 4-2 before a costly error by Rafael Devers opened the door for a two-run double by Tampa Bay's Daniel Robertson.
Eduardo Rodriguez allowed three earned runs in 5.1 innings while striking out six.
Christian Vazquez had helped the Red Sox build a 3-1 lead with a two-run homer, his fourth of the season.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Tropicana Field
SERIES TO DATE: This is the first meeting of the year between the teams
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-2, 7.98) vs. RHP Ryne Stanek (0-0. 1.93)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:58 Once again, Matt Barnes is the team's most trusted reliever in a big spot -- and comes through with a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Look for Brasier in the ninth.
9:43 Red Sox turn the power on in the eighth inning - back-to-back homers from Mookie Betts (No. 4) and Mitch Moreland (No. 6) break open a tie game and give the Sox a two-run lead.
9:15 Bounce-back appearance for Brandon Workman, who faced four batters Wednesday night in New York and had three of them score when Brett Gardner hit the grand slam off Ryan Brasier. Tonight, he comes in with traffic and with two pitches, gets out of the inning by getting Willy Adames to bounce into a double-play.
9:07 Another error by Devers (No. 6) proves costly. Devers couldn't handle a grounder hit at him that would have resulted in a double play, and a batter later, Daniel Robertson capitalizes with a double down the left field line, scoring two.
8:56 Sox add on a run with a run-scoring single from J.D. Martinez -- extending his hitting streak to nine games -- but had runners at first and second with no out and couldn't score again. Let's see if that comes back to haunt them.
8:41 Two strong plays on consecutive balls hit to him by Rafael Devers -- on the first, he fields a carom off Rodriguez and throws to first, not in time. On the second, he makes a diving stop to start an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. He can muff the most routine of plays, and then make eye-popping ones like that.
8:26 Christian Vazquez, power hitter. All of sudden, the Red Sox catcher is flashing his home run swing. That's four this season, or more than he hit in 80 games all of last season. Vazquez catches a sinker that runs back out over the heart of the plate and smokes it out to CF.
8:24 First hit of the night for the Red Sox and it's a big one -- a hard-hit double to right by Rafael Devers, scoring Martinez (walk) all the way from first base. That's just the third RBI of the season for Devers.
7:59 Another misplay -- however slight -- by Mookie Betts in right, who misplays the carom long enough for Avisail Garcia to take third instead of staying at second.
7:53 Nice play by Devers, charging that ball and keeping his balance enough to make a strong throw to first. Not in time, however, to get Diaz at first.
7:40 Brandon Lowe golfs a slider down the right field line for a solo homer. That's just the second homer allowed by a Red Sox starter in the last seven games.
7:30 Rodrigues works out of a first-and-second, no-out jam by getting the next three in order, two by strikeouts. One negative: he needed 26 pitches to get through the inning.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Benintendi LF
Betts RF
Moreland 1B
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Bradley CF
Lin 2B
RAYS
Diaz 1B
Pham LF
Meadows DH
Garcia RF
Robertson 3B
Heredia CF
Lowe 2B
Adames SS
Perez C
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have dropped four of their last five...They 13 losses in their first 19 games represents the worst start for the Sox since 1996...After a day off Thursday, the Red Sox begin a stretch where they play 20 games in the next 20 days...The Sox were 11-8 against the Rays last year, winning six straight at one point after losing to them on Opening Day...Six of the next 10 games come against Tampa, with the Rays coming to Fenway next weekend...The Sox go into Friday's game having lost their last four in a row against the Rays last season...J.D. Martinez comes into this series with an eight-game hitting streak. He's reached base in all 19 games this season...Dating back to last season, he's reached safely in his last 20 games, the third-longest such active streak in the big leagues...Christian Vazquez has three homers already, matching his total for all of 2018, which he achieved in 80 games...Xander Bogaerts has hit safely in his last four games (5-for-15) with four RBI in that stretch....Mookie Betts is hitless in his last 10 at-bats and has just three hits in his last 31 at-bats...Andrew Benintendi returns to the lineup after missing the last three games after fouling a ball off his foot last Sunday....Rafael Devers is still looking for his first homer of the season and has collected just two RBI...After a torrid start, Mitch Moreland's average has dipped to .241...Rodriguez is making his fourth start of the season...In his last outing, he picked up his first win, allowing two runs on three hits over 6.2 innings against Baltimore with eight strikeouts and no walks...Rodriguez hasn't had great success against the Rays in the past...Last year, he faced them just once and allowed three runs in 3.2 innings...For his career, he's 0-2 with a 6.67 ERA in six starts against them...At Tropicana Field, he's 0-2 with a 7.90 ERA in three outings...Guillermo Heredia is just 2-for-14 (.143) lifetime against Rodriguez...Tommy Pham is 2-for-5 against the lefty...As for Stanek, Vazquez is 2-for-3 with an RBI while Bogaerts is also 2-for-3 2ith two RBI...No Red Sox hitter has more than three career at-bats against him.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- The Red Sox traded Blake Swihart to Arizona for minor league OF Marcus Wilson, 22. Swihart had been designated for assignment earlier this week when the Red Sox called up Sandy Leon from Pawtucket. Earlier today, Dave Dombrowski said he expected a deal involving Swihart done within 24 hours; it took only another hour or two. Swihart gets to go to an organization who are familiar with him: GM Mike Hazen, manager Torey Lovullo, assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye. Also, this is an opportunity for Swihart to play closer to home and his family in New Mexico. Baseball America had Wilson, a former first-round pick in 2014, as the Diamondbacks' 20th-best prospect. He's a right batter who's had some difficulty making consistent contact.
- Earlier Friday, the Red Sox made some additional roster moves, calling up INF Michael Chavis and Tzu-Wei Lin while placing Eduardo Nunez (back) on the DL and designating RHP Erasmo Ramirez for assignment. Nunez had been battling a sore back for some time, but was forced to play Wednesday night when Dustin Pedroia was removed from the game in the second inning. The Sox placed Pedroia (left knee inflammation) on the DL Thursday. Ramirez made his Red Sox debut Wednesday night and was pounded for four runs in three innings, including a three-run homer in his first inning of work.
- Lin gets the start at second base tonight. Chavis has played four games at second while at Pawtucket, but Alex Cora said Thursday the team wants to him get more comfortable at the position before using him much there in the big leagues. This marks the first time Chavis has been on a major league roster. Lin was up briefly with the team earlier in the year.