A day after being one-hit in a shutout loss, the Red Sox exploded for three homers and seven runs in the third inning and coasted to a 9-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Sox got homers from J.D. Martinez, Andrew Benintendi and Sam Travis in the span of four at-bats and put the Rays away early.
Eduardo Rodriguez gave the Sox one of his best starts of the season, going seven scoreless innings while allowing just two hits -- both in the infield.
Nathan Eovaldi, making his first appearance since April, pitched the eighth inning and was boxed around for five hits and three runs.
WHO: Red Sox (54-46) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (57-45)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Tropicana Field
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: Tampa Bay 5-4
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (11-4, 4.34) vs. LHP Jalen Beeks (5-0, 2.78)
TV/RADIO: NESN, ESPN; WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:57 Eovaldi can't finish the inning. He allowed five hits, three runs and is responsible for two runners as Matt Barnes enters. Not a good start to this experiment.
9:51 Nathan Eovaldi showing some rust, with a couple of hard-hit doubles and two wild pitches, resulting in three runs scored.
9:13 Rodriguez continues to do what you want a starting pitcher to do with a big lead -- have quick innings and get your team back in the dugout. He hasn't faced more than four hitters in any single inning tonight.
8:38 Rodriguez with some pitch-efficient innings -- 11 in the second, 12 in the fourth. That can help him go deep tonight and save the bullpen before a stretch of games against top teams.
8:27 Bloop double by Bogaerts scores Marco Hernandez and the Sox have eight runs.
8:11 Guaranteed, almost once a game: ERod fails to get over to first on a ball hit to the right side. Happens all. The. Time..
8:02 Big night for Benintendi, who gets a breaking ball down and in -- right where most lefty hitters like it.
7:57 Just the second homer this month for J.D. Martinez over the course of 64 at-bats, but it comes at a big time, with two teammates on and upping the Red Sox' lead to 5-0.
7:51 Two-run double the other way for Rafael Devers, who, incredibly, has 27 RBI in 17 games this month.
7:39 Following a leadoff walk, Eduardo Rodriguez has looked good, mixing his four-seamer at the top of the zone with a two-seamer, along with the occasional changeup and cutter.
7:31 Andrew Benintendi snaps an 0-for-9 slump with a sharp single to right field. Most of the offense has been rolling -- yesterday notwithstanding -- but Benintendi hasn't been part of it.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Vazquez C
Benintendi LF
Travis 1B
Bradley CF
Hernandez 2B
RAYS
D'arnaud 1B
Pham LF
Meadows DH
Diaz 3B
Garcia RF
Brusseau 2B
Adames SS
Zunino C
Heredia CF
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox dropped 2-for-3 to the lowly Orioles over the weekend and are now just 5-5 since the All-Star break...In Sunday's loss, they managed just one hit and saw their streak of not being shut out end at 81 games...The last time they had a longer streak was 2004-2005 when the club went 86 games without being shut out...The Sox lead the majors in runs scored (576) and batting average (.272) and are second in OBP (.346)...Sunday also represented the first time the Red Sox failed to homer after 10 straight games...Dating back to June 24, the Sox have homered in 19 of 21 games...The Sox rank third in the majors in RISP (.281) and are first in RISP with two out (.282)….With two outs, the Red Sox rank first in the majors in batting average (.270), slugging percentage (.485), OPS (.838), extra-base hits (136) and RBI (229)….The Sox are 15-4 in their last 19 road games and have the game's best road winning percentage (.711) since April 19...The Red Sox have put together six straight winning road trips, but will need a sweep of the Rays in the next three days to maintain that run...The Sox are 3-0 at Tropicana Field this season, but just 1-5 against the Rays at Fenway....The Sox are 8-3-1 in their last 12 series at Tropicana Field and have won five of the last six....The Sox are 11-0 when Eduardo Rodriguez throws six or more innings this season and 22-1 in such games dating back to September, 2017....Overall, the Red Sox are 15-3 in Rodriguez's last 18 starts, 6-1 in his last seven and 3-0 in his last three...Mookie Betts has reached base safely in 34 of his last 35 games and the last 18 in a row....In those 35 games, Betts is batting .322 with a .973 OPS...Andrew Benintendi is 0-for-9....Xander Bogaerts has five homers and 17 RBI in his last 13 games...Rafael Devers has homered in three of his last five games...Rodriguez is 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA in two starts against the Rays this season....Yandy Diaz is 4-for-5 lifetime against Rodriguez while Gil Heredia is just 3-for-18 (.167) and Brandon Lowe is 3-for-6 with two homers...Jackie Bradley Jr. is 0-for-5 against Jalen Beeks and J.D. Martinez is 2-for-4.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Alex Cora said he expects that Nathan Eovaldi will pitch Monday night, almost regardless of score. It will be Eovaldi's first appearance since April.
- Mitch Moreland, who joined the team in St. Petersburg, will be activated Tuesday for the second game of the series.
- Michael Chavis (back spasms) remains out of the lineup and will likely need another day or two.