Price, Red Sox Beat Rays 6-2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Red Sox starter David Price threw eight innings of shutout baseball, getting his first win as a visitor at Tropicana Field and leading Boston to a 6-2 win against his old team, the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
Boston (70-54) moved into a first-place tie with idle Toronto atop the American League East standings, while the Rays (52-71) cooled off after winning six of seven. Evan Longoria spoiled the shutout with a two-run home run, his 29th this season, off reliever Matt Barnes in the ninth inning. The Rays had more hits in the ninth (three) than in eight innings against Price.
Price (12-8) took a one-hitter into the eighth inning, then got a huge save from left fielder Andrew Benintendi, who made a leaping grab over the wall in the corner to rob Steven Souza of what would have been a two-run home run. The former Rays ace was 0-3 in three previous starts against Tampa Bay at the Trop, but pitched a gem Monday.
Two of Boston's first three runs came on sacrifice flies, with Benintendi getting one in the fourth and Hanley Ramirez adding another in the seventh. The eighth inning was the Rays' only real threat, with Beckham leading off the inning with Tampa Bay's second hit and Souza following with Benintendi's gem.
The Red Sox pulled away in the ninth, with Dustin Pedroia reaching base on a throwing error by reliever Danny Farquhar, who then served up a two-run home run to Xander Bogaerts, his 15th of the season, for a 5-0 lead. Sandy Leon brought in another run with an RBI groundout to score Mookie Betts, who had singled.
Price, seeking his first win as a visitor at Tropicana Field after three losses, retired the first nine batters in order and allowed only one hit in the first five innings.
Logan Forsythe led off the fourth with a single and was thrown out trying to steal second, with a fifth-inning walk as the Rays' only other baserunner in the first five innings.
Rays starter Blake Snell struggled with control, walking a season-high five batters and lasting only 3 2/3 innings.
Boston struck for two runs in the fourth, with Hanley Ramirez reaching on a walk and Sandy Leon following with a single. Chris Young, activated from the disabled list and playing for the first time in two months, came through with an RBI double down the left-field line to score Ramirez for a 1-0 lead.
After another walk to load the bases, Benintendi hit a sacrifice fly to score Leon for a 2-0 lead.
Snell loaded the bases again with another walk, but reliever Erasmo Ramirez came in with two runners on and got a groundout to third from Bogaerts to end the inning. Snell followed with a scoreless fifth.
The Rays came in as winners of six of their last seven. The Red Sox had won eight of 10, including a four-game weekend split with the Detroit Tigers.
NOTES: The Red Sox activated OF Chris Young from the 15-day disabled list after missing 51 games since June 24 with a hamstring strain. Young returned to the lineup on Monday, batting seventh and playing left field. He was hitting .277 with six home runs and 15 RBIs before the injury and had batted .310 since May 10 after a slow start. To make room for Young, the Red Sox optioned LHP Henry Owens to Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Rays 2B Logan Forsythe entered Monday night with home runs in three straight games, becoming just the second Rays player to do so from the leadoff spot. Gerald Williams was the first in 2000. Forsythe has 16 homers, putting him on pace to challenge Williams' team record of 21 out of the leadoff spot, also set in 2000. ... Rays OF Kevin Kiermaier returned to center field after missing two starts with hip tightness. He had entered as a defensive replacement in Sunday's game.
