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Rays top Red Sox for 8th straight win

Jul 26, 2014 - 6:15 AM St. Petersburg, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Evan Longoria lined a go-ahead three- run double as part of a four-run bottom of the seventh inning and the Tampa Bay Rays won their eighth straight game following a 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox in the opener of a three-game set.

David Price (11-7), who had a minuscule 0.90 ERA over his last five starts coming in, struck out 10 and allowed three runs on eight hits over eight innings to win his sixth consecutive outing for Tampa Bay, which has won 19 of its last 24 games overall.

Price faced the fading Red Sox for the first time since hitting David Ortiz with a pitch on May 30, which led to a benches-clearing brawl in the fourth inning of a 3-2, 10-inning loss.

Desmond Jennings smacked a two-run homer and scored a pair of runs, while Ben Zobrist ran out three infield singles among his four hits to go with an RBI and a run scored in the triumph.

"The offense, that was a great job by them," said Price. "Our offense did a great job. They battled back."

Jake McGee picked up his 10th save of the season despite yielding a run in the ninth.

Shane Victorino cracked a solo shot among his two hits and two RBI to go with a run scored for Boston, which has dropped four straight. Red Sox starter Jon Lester fanned seven, but surrendered two runs on six hits and a walk over six frames in a no-decision.

"With the exception of the 35 pitches in the fifth inning, he was as good as Jon has been," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Lester.

Ortiz, who played despite injuring his back on a check swing in Thursday's loss to Arizona, went 1-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.

The Rays trailed 3-2 before surging ahead in the seventh.

Andrew Miller hit Jose Molina with a pitch before striking out Logan Forsythe to start the seventh. Junichi Tazawa (1-2) came on and walked Jennings. Zobrist then slapped a base hit to right to plate pinch-runner Cole Figueroa, who replaced Molina, and tie the game.

Brandon Guyer coaxed a free pass before Longoria laced a double down the left- field line to clear the bases and give Tampa Bay a 6-3 advantage.

David Ross' sacrifice fly in the ninth capped the scoring.

Earlier, Boston opened the scoring in the second when Victorino launched his solo shot into the seats in left.

The Rays plated a pair in the fifth before the Red Sox got both runs back in the sixth and retake the lead again.

James Loney led off the fifth with a single and Jennings followed two batters later with his two-run blast to left and end Lester's career-high 18 scoreless innings stretch.

Dustin Pedroia cracked a one-out double into the gap in left-center in the sixth and scored on an Ortiz single up the middle. Mike Napoli lined out before back-to-back base hits by Jonny Gomes and Victorino pushed Ortiz across for a 3-2 Boston edge.

Game Notes

Molina had his nine-game hitting streak snapped ... Jennings' homer was his ninth of the season, while Longoria's two-bagger was his 17th ... Tampa Bay was 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, while Boston finished 2-for-4.