 gave up three runs and seven hits in picking up his first win as a starter since last Sept. 24. The right-hander had elbow surgery to remove a loose body in late April and has been building up innings over the last month.''I want to finish strong,'' Eovaldi said. ''I feel like I've missed so much time as it is now.'' Eovaldi was traded by Tampa Bay to Boston in late July 2018 and won both his playoff starts and ended up with an 1.61 ERA in six overall appearances.''Did an outstanding job,'' Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. ''Good to see him finishing the season strong.'' Boston designated hitter J. D. Martinez drove in two runs and is one RBI away from his third consecutive and fourth overall season of at least 35 homers and 100 RBIs.Rays two-way player Brendan McKay got his first major league homer on a solo shot off Trevor Kelley as a pinch-hitter in the ninth.''My family was here today,'' McKay said. ''They came down, I think, last night and decided to come to a game today and they ultimately get to see it. Exciting.'' Martinez had an RBI single and Vazquez hit his homer off Ryan Yarbrough (11-5) as Boston went up 4-0 in the first.Vazquez has 22 homers in 133 games this year. He went deep 10 times over 291 games during his first four seasons.The Rays scored a run in each of the first three innings off Eovaldi, including Joey Wendle's third-inning homer, to get within 4-3.Boston took a 6-3 lead in the fourth when Andrew Kittredge replaced Yarbrough with one-out and walked Martinez with the base loaded and later threw a wild pitch.Yarbrough allowed six runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.''All-in-all, very frustrating today,'' Yarbrough said.Tampa Bay All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, out since July 3 with a bruised right shin and later strained left quadriceps, was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and went 1 for 3 with a walk.PREPARING FOR 2020Cora plans to have a busy offseason working with his players in a number of areas like on-base percentage and cutting down on strikeouts. ''We have to keep adjusting,'' Cora said. ''Be better at certain aspects and we'll be back.'' KIERMAIER HITSRays CF Kevin Kiermaier was mired in an 0 for 22 skid before getting an RBI single in the second. He was hit on the left forearm-wrist area by an Eovaldi pitch during the fourth but stayed in the gameTRAINER'S ROOMRed Sox: LHP David Price will have surgery Thursday to remove a cyst in his left wrist but is expected to be ready for spring training next year. ... OF Mookie Betts, who played the previous two days after missing a week due to left foot inflammation, had a scheduled day off. ... OF Andrew Benintendi (jammed left thumb) was out of the lineup for the second straight game but could start Monday.Rays: OF Avisail Garcia, who left Friday's game with vertigo-type symptoms, is now experiencing just slight discomfort.UP NEXTRays LHP Blake Snell (6-7) will make his second start Monday night since surgery July 29 to remove bone chips in his throwing elbow against Boston RHP Jhoulys Chacin (3-11).--More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Will 11 be lucky number again for Rays vs. Red Sox?FLMIf the Tampa Bay Rays could play 11 innings every day, they might be unstoppable.The Rays won in 11 innings for the third straight game Saturday, defeating the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Nate Lowe's two-run homer. The teams will continue their four-game series Sunday at Tropicana Field.Tampa Bay beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-7 on Wednesday on the road and defeated Boston 5-4 at home Friday night."A lot of guys are doing some big, big things for us," Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters after the game. "But the way we're playing, the other teams are playing, we've just got to find ways. And the guys, give them a lot of credit. They certainly do that." Saturday's win gave the Rays a one-game lead on the Cleveland Indians for the American League's second and final wild-card playoff berth. The Indians lost 9-4 to visiting Philadelphia in an interleague game.Willy Adames also homered for the Rays, who are getting closer to full health.The Rays got Yonny Chirinos back Saturday, after the right-hander had been out since Aug. 5 with right middle finger inflammation. That comes after the recent return of starting pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner."I'm very happy to be able to be back with the team," Chirinos told MLB.com. "Now just try and take full advantage of the opportunity to help the team win." Chirinos was used as a reliever in his return, replacing Glasnow in the fourth inning. Chirinos allowed a leadoff homer to Xander Bogaerts before retiring the next three batters."We're excited to have him back," Cash said. "He's a little different than Blake (Snell) and Tyler (Glasnow) in the fact that I think it's fair to assume that we're not going to be able to stretch him out to what he was." Chirinos has started in 17 of his 24 appearances this season and is 9-5 with a 3.67 ERA."I feel good in both roles, and I have a lot of confidence," Chirinos said. "Right now we're thinking about making the playoffs, and that's the only goal." The Rays are scheduled to start left-hander Ryan Yarbrough (11-4, 3.78 ERA) on Sunday against Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 6.19). Yarbrough is 3-0 with a 3.66 ERA in eight career appearances against the Red Sox, including two starts; Eovaldi is 1-4 with a 5.64 ERA in seven appearances against Tampa Bay, with five starts.The defending World Series champion Red Sox were eliminated from postseason contention Friday, meaning no team has repeated since the 2000 New York Yankees."It's not easy, man. We talk about hangover or whatever. The grind of going through the whole thing is gratifying," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told the media. "We were talking about it yesterday. We only lost 57 games last year as a group. We were locked in mentally. And then the offseason becomes short."Sometimes, it's great. Give me the short offseason the whole time. As far as preparation and all that, you're in a rush. I do feel that going into the season, you prepare the right way, you do everything possible, but that first month is very important. You have a target (on your back). We talk about it." --Field Level Media
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