Red Sox hold off Rays for 7th straight win

BOSTON (AP) — Ceddanne Rafaela hit a go-ahead, two-run double during a three-run seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox earned their season-high seventh straight win by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Thursday.

Boston starter Walker Buehler gave up three runs off five hits, including two home runs, over six innings. Chris Murphy (1-0) and Garrett Whitlock pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, and Aroldis Chapman struck out two in the ninth to pick up his 16th save and 1,300th strikeout.

Junior Caminero hit a two-run home run and Ha-Seong Kim added a solo homer for the Rays.

Tampa's Taj Bradley allowed one run off two hits over six innings, striking out five. But reliever Bryan Baker (3-3), who was making his Rays debut after being traded by the Baltimore Orioles, surrendered all three Boston runs in the seventh.

Boston struck first when Roman Anthony lined a two-out RBI single into right field in the third inning.

The Rays responded when Kim took Buehler to a full count and drove his 89-mph slider just over the top of the Green Monster for his first homer of the season to put the Rays in front 2-1.

Caminero made it 3-1 in the sixth, connecting on Buehler's first pitch of the inning for a solo home run, his 23rd this season.

Key moment

Trailing 3-1, the Red Sox opened the seventh by drawing back-to-back walks off Baker. That was followed by an RBI double by Marcelo Mayer and the two-run single by Rafaela to put the Red Sox in front.

Key stats

Tampa Bay rookie Chandler Simpson extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest by a rookie in Rays history.

Up next

RHP Drew Rasmussen (7-5, 2.78 ERA) is scheduled to make his first start against Boston since July 14, 2022. LHP Garrett Crochet (9-4, 2.39) has won three of his last four starts.