ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays’ first accomplishment Thursday night was avoiding being no-hit by the Red Sox, which they didn’t do until one out in the eighth.
The bigger one was winning the game, which they did, 1-0, in the ninth as Manuel Margot scored on a wild pitch with two outs.
Margot had singled with two outs off Sox closer Matt Barnes, then stole second and went to third on an errant throw by catcher Christian Vazquez. The Sox intentionally walked Joey Wendle to bring up catcher Francisco Mejia.
After snapping a seven-game losing streak — their longest in more than three years — on Wednesday, the Rays moved back ahead of the Red Sox and into first place in the American League East at 45-31.
The Rays were held without a hit until one out into the eighth, when Kevin Kiermaier slapped a ball to left field and hustled his way to a double, but got only to third.
Kiermaier’s hit came off lefty Darwinzon Hernandez, the third Boston pitcher. Starter Nick Pivetta was lifted by manager Alex Cora in a much-debated move with two outs in the seventh, as he hit the 100-pitch mark. Josh Taylor finished the seventh.
Kiermaier kept the Red Sox off the board with a tremendous throw to the plate in the seventh to nail ex-mate Hunter Renfroe, who was trying to score from second on Vazquez’s single. Kiermaier charged in hard for the ball and unleashed a throw, on a line and on target to Mejia, that was clocked at 94.7 mph covering 181 feet.
The Rays got another strong throw to get out of the inning, as Mejia fired to second to nab Vazquez getting back to the base late.
After returning to the rotation in place of injured Tyler Glasnow with a rough start Friday in Seattle, Wacha delivered a dazzling five-inning shutout outing Friday. He held the Red Sox to one hit — which didn’t come until two were out in the fifth — and struck out seven.
He started strong, striking out the side in the first around a one-out walk, and two more in the second. He got out of what little trouble he had, striking out Bobby Dalbec with a man on third to end the fifth and enticing Rafael Devers to ground out with two on and two outs in the sixth.
Against the Mariners, Wacha lasted only 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits, though several went through holes created by Rays defensive shifts, which manager Kevin Cash said they would seek to adjust.
The Rays have been no-hit five times, most recently by Seattle’s Felix Hernandez on Aug. 15, 2012, in a perfect game. Others to blank the Rays were Arizona’s Edwin Jackson on June 25, 2010; Oakland’s Dallas Braden (a perfect game) on May 9, 2010; Chicago’s Mark Buerhle (perfect game) on July 23, 2009; and Boston’s Derek Lowe on April 27, 2002.
Wander Franco struck out three times, the first time he has done so in 217 professional games.
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