ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays made their first appearance on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball in seven years a good one, beating the Red Sox 3-2 to complete a three-game sweep and extend their American League East lead to 1½ games.
The Rays won their fourth straight to improve to 64-42, moving to a season-high 22 games over .500, in making their first appearance in the ESPN Sunday spotlight since July 2014, and first at home since July 2011. Boston dropped to 63-44.
Brandon Lowe homered and Manuel Margot singled in red-hot rookie Wander Franco for the Rays runs, rookie lefty Shane McClanahan provided a strong six-inning start, and relievers Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Sherriff and Matt Wisler took it from there before a Tropicana Field crowd of 17,816.
The Rays took a lead in the third against Sox starter Nick Pivetta, who was looking to extend his season (and career) scoreless streak against them to 14⅔ innings. Mike Zunino drew a two-out walk for the Rays’ first baserunner of the night, then Lowe drove a full-count slider over the rightfield fence. It was his team-leading 23rd homer of the season.
McClanahan was sharp from the start, logging five straight strikeouts over the first and second innings. The former USF standout made one of his few mistakes in the fourth, allowing a one-out homer to former Ray Hunter Renfroe.
The Rays extended the lead to 3-1 in the fifth. Franco, coming off back-to-back two-hit games, led off with a single, moved up on a wild pitch and raced home on a single by Manuel Margot.
McClanahan, facing the rival Red Sox for the first time, worked a solid six, allowing just the one run on four hits, walking two and striking out seven, throwing 62 of his 88 pitches for strikes.
Rasmussen took over in the seventh, and the Sox quickly got back within one. Alex Verdugo greeted Rasmussen with a double, went to third on a drive to deep right that Margot made a running and leaping catch on, then scored on a wild pitch.
Pivetta, who thew five shutout innings and gave up two hits against the Rays on April 5, then 6⅔ no-hit innings on June 24, didn’t get through the fifth Sunday.
Sherriff, taking over for injured Jeffrey Springs as the lone lefty in the Rays bullpen, got a huge out in the eighth, striking out Verdugo with the tying run on. Wisler got a testy save in the ninth, getting J.D. Martinez to fly out to shallow right with runners on the corners to end it.
.png?w=600)
