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“DIARY OF A WINNER” |
THE BEST RED SOX TEAM EVAH! ... March 29, 2018 ... Denard Span made a huge splash in his debut on opening day, lining a bases-loaded triple to highlight a six-run eighth inning that carried the Rays over the Boston Red Sox 6-4. The Rays were shut out on one hit through the sixth by Chris Sale, and took advantage of four walks in the eighth to come back. Span lined a 3-2 pitch off the right field wall, setting off a raucous celebration among the sellout crowd of 31,042 at Tropicana Field. Span’s triple was only Tampa Bay’s third hit of the day and gave the Rays a 5-4 lead. Adeiny Hechavarria followed with an infield single off Carson Smith (0-1), providing a two-run cushion for closer Alex Colome to earn a save. The Red Sox lost in Alex Cora’s first game as a major league manager. They wasted a superb start from Sale, who showed no ill effects from being hit by a line drive in the hip in his final spring training start. The 2017 big league strikeout leader fanned nine and walked three. Matt Barnes pitched the seventh for Boston, which let the game slip away after Joe Kelly entered in the eighth. Boston built a 4-0 lead against Rays starter Chris Archer, with Eduardo Nunez hitting a two-run, inside-the-park homer and Rafael Devers driving in two runs with a seventh-inning double and a RBI grounder in the second. Archer allowed four runs and six hits in six-plus innings. The two-time All-Star was in danger of falling to 2-13 lifetime against Boston before Span delivered his first hit as a Ray. The Rays, who routinely rank near the bottom of the majors in attendance, sold out their home opener for the 13th consecutive season. Eduardo Nunez’s inside-the-park homer was the second of his career. The other also came against the Rays while playing for the Minnesota Twins in 2016. It was Boston’s first inside-the-park homer during the regular season since Blake Swihart had one on the road against the New York Mets on Aug. 28, 2015. It was their one on opening day since Carl Yastrzemski on April 10, 1968 at Detroit. Dustin Pedroia, on the disabled list following left knee surgery, had a streak of consecutive starts on opening day end at 11. Eduardo Rodriguez (right knee surgery) worked four innings in a minor league spring training game. |
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