Rays at Red Sox
The Tampa Bay Rays' feast or famine offense showed up at Fenway Park on Friday and did just enough to overcome a series of errors by the defense and lead the team to a 5-4 win in the series opener. The Rays will try to pick up their third win in four games and clinch a series win when they visit the Boston Red Sox for the second of the three-game set on Saturday.
The middle contest was moved up into the afternoon in an effort to miss an expected rain storm in Boston on Saturday night, and the Rays are just 4-10 in day games, including a 6-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals in a getaway game on Thursday. Tampa Bay blasted the Royals 12-1 in the previous contest and got the offense going in two of the nine innings on Friday, getting two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth before escaping with the one-run win. The Red Sox are having similar problems with their offense while dropping three of the last four games, though shortstop Xander Bogaerts is staying consistent and has hit safely in 15 straight games. Bogaerts is 0-for-6 with a pair of strikeouts in his career against Rays left-hander Blake Snell, who will go up against Boston ace Chris Sale on Saturday.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays LH Blake Snell (0-3, 3.96 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH Chris Sale (3-2, 1.92)
Snell has not recorded an out past the fifth inning since his first outing on April 6 and is still looking for his first win. The 24-year-old allowed a season-high 10 hits and four runs over five innings against Kansas City on Monday and notched only two strikeouts. Snell surrendered four runs (one earned) and seven hits over five innings in a loss at Boston on April 17 and is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox.
Sale allowed a season-high four runs on as many hits and three walks in six innings at Minnesota on Sunday but earned the win. The Florida Gulf Coast product notched 10 strikeouts against the Twins - his sixth straight start with at least 10 punchouts - and leads the majors with 73. Sale struck out 12 and yielded one run on three hits in seven innings to earn a win over Tampa Bay on April 15.
WALK-OFFS
1. Red Sox INF Marco Hernandez (shoulder) will receive a second MRI before deciding if season-ending surgery is necessary.
2. Tampa Bay OF Steven Souza Jr. (thumb) sat out the last four games but could return this weekend.
3. Boston DH Hanley Ramirez (back) sat out Friday and is day-to-day.