Boston dominates Tampa Bay
Vazquez hits homer, Bogaerts has three hits as Red Sox sweep Rays
Christian Vazquez homered, Xander Bogaerts had three hits and J.D. Martinez went for extra bases for the seventh game in a row on Wednesday to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-2 and complete a three-game sweep.
Nathan Eovaldi (1-1) allowed one run, three hits and three walks over seven innings with seven strikeouts. The Red Sox, swept by lowly Baltimore in their opening series over the weekend, beat the defending AL champion Rays in three straight by a combined 26-9.
Coming into the series, the Rays had won eight straight at Fenway Park and 13 of 14.
“On Sunday, going home it was a tough one,“said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whose team now heads to Baltimore. “Hopping on this plane, it’s going to be a different feeling. But nothing changes. We need to work to get better.”
Ryan Yarbrough (0-1), who pitched 5 2⁄3 shutout innings in his first outing this season, added three more scoreless before Bogaerts singled in a run and scored on Vazquez’s line drive over the Green Monster in the fourth. Vazquez also homered on Tuesday night to tie it in the ninth inning before Boston won it in the 12th; he caught the entire game.
“He needed a break, but obviously he’s really good against lefties,” Cora said. “He’s one of the toughest ones in that clubhouse. He wants to play every day. That catching position is a tough one; he nails it.”
Boston added six in the fifth — all with two outs — thanks to sloppy Tampa fielding.
Martinez doubled with runners on first and second to score two runs — his major league-leading sixth double this season. Bogaerts singled on a hard-hit ball that shortstop Willy Adames couldn’t handle, then Vazquez followed with an RBI single.
Hunter Renfroe then hit a grounder to shortstop and Adames threw it wide of first base. As the ball rolled around in the netting above the photo pit next to the dugout, both Bogaerts and Vazquez scored.
Christian Arroyo followed with a double to make it 9-1 and send the Rays to their fourth straight loss. In all, Yarbrough was charged with a career-high nine runs — six of them earned — and nine hits in five innings.
Martinez is the first Red Sox player with at least one extrabase hit in each of the team’s first six games since David Ortiz started the 2005 season with six straight.