ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Amed Rosario hit a two-run triple during Tampa Bay’s three-run first inning and the Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 5-3 on Monday night.
Rosario added an RBI double and Yandy Díaz had three hits for the Rays, who are in a stretch of 13 straight games vs rival AL East clubs.
“We got guys on in front of him,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said of Rosario. “He came through in a big way in the beginning of the game and certainly at the end of the game.”
Boston’s Tyler O’Neill hit his 10th homer, a three-run shot. The Red Sox had won their last two games.
Rays starter Zach Eflin (3-4) gave up three runs on six hits in five innings. Their bullpen took over from there, with three relievers holding Boston to two singles.
The teams opened a stretch of seven games in 10 days against each other.
Jose Siri’s sacrifice fly pushed Tampa Bay in front 4-3 in the fourth after José Caballero blooped a leadoff double just inside the right-field foul line and stole third. Rosario added his double in the eighth.
Kevin Kelly pitched two innings of one-hit relief, Garrett Cleavinger worked the eighth and Jason Adam got the final three outs for his third save. Adam struck out the last three after a leadoff walk.
“Kevin Kelly certainly highlighted that,” Cash said. “Kevin Kelly was so efficient that first inning; to go back out there and get through the second was huge for us. JA, after that leadoff walk, really settled in and got a feel for his breaking ball.”
Tampa Bay broke ahead 3-0 against Kutter Crawford (2-2). Rosario’s two-out hit just ticked off the edge center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela’s glove on a full-length diving attempt before Richie Palacios followed with an RBI single.
“If he would have caught it, that would have been a tremendous play,” Rosario said through a team translator.
Crawford settled down after that and allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings, throwing a career-high 101 pitches.
“I struggled with the command a little bit,” he said. “I think it all kind of started by falling behind. I was throwing across my body a little in the first. ... Just kind of falling behind in the first kind of led to a long inning.”
Crawford entered with a 1.75 ERA and had allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his eight previous starts.
O’Neill belted a low curveball completely out of Fenway Park over the Green Monster, a drive estimated at 426 feet that tied it in the bottom half.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: Cash said before the game that INF Isaac Paredes was fully healthy after getting hit in the helmet by a pitch Sunday, but he had the day off. … Cash also said 2B Brandon Lowe (injured list, right oblique strain) “is still feeling it a little bit. … he’s going to go get an opinion from a doctor (Tuesday morning).” He was pulled from a rehab game with Triple-A Durham on May 10. … Díaz appeared to tweak something on a swing in the seventh but stayed in. He said through a translator after the game that it was something he's been dealing with pertaining to his shoulder.
UP NEXT
Rays: RHP Aaron Civale (2-3, 5.88) is slated to make his first career appearance in Fenway, starting on Tuesday night. The 28-year-old grew up a Red Sox fan in East Windsor, Connecticut, and attended college at nearby Northeastern University.
Red Sox: RHP Nick Pivetta (1-2, 3.60) is set to make his second start since coming off the IL.
