ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays and Red Sox are going to see plenty of each other over the next six weeks as they battle for the American League East, playing 13 times.
The Rays got the key stretch off to a good start Friday night, rolling to a 7-3 win.
Yandy Diaz, All-Star Mike Zunino and Randy Arozarena homered, and rookie Wander Franco had two extra-base hits as the Rays followed their 14-0 blasting of the Yankees on Wednesday with another strong offensive showing.
Josh Fleming battled through five innings for the win, and four relievers, including newly acquired JT Chargois, combined to finish.
With the win, the Rays improved to 62-42 and moved within a half game of the 63-42 Red Sox, who have led or been tied for the division lead since late June.
Friday’s game, before an announced 11,109 at Tropicana Field, opened a three-game weekend series that includes the Rays’ first appearance on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball since 2014, and first at home since 2011.
The Rays took the lead in the first off lefty Martin Perez when Austin Meadows drew a two-out walk and Diaz followed with a homer, his seventh.
The Rays made it 4-0 in the third when designated hitter Nelson Cruz, their prized acquisition who wasn’t in the lineup the past two days due to a bruised right foot, singled. Diaz did the same before Franco laced a double to center.
The Sox got two back in a messy fourth, when Fleming allowed six of seven batters to reach but only two to score as he got Enrique Hernandez to pop out with the bases loaded.
The Rays then separated the game in their half of the fourth when Zunino hit an opposite-field homer, his 20th of the season and eighth in his last 26 games. It was the fourth time Zunino has reached the 20-homer mark in his nine-year big league career but first since 2018.
Two batters later, Arozarena blasted a ball over the left-field wall for his 14th homer, looking into the Rays dugout as he headed toward first and giving his bat a good toss. Arozarena, the breakout star of the 2020 postseason, has been on a hot streak as well, with four homers in his last 10 games.
The teams play again Aug. 10-12 in Boston, Aug. 30-Sept. 2 in St. Petersburg and Sept. 6-8 in Boston.
