Prior to the Boston Red Sox's 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night, which secured a series win for Alex Cora's squad, it had been quite some time since Boston had won a series at Tropicana Field.
In fact, this series victory is the first that the Red Sox have secured in Tampa Bay since July 2019. The winning pitchers in that series were Eduardo Rodriguez and Chris Sale, who both pitch elsewhere now.
On Tuesday night, Boston received another solid night of pitching with Cooper Criswell getting the start and allowing the only two runs of the game on six hits and one walk over 5 1/3 innings. Cam Booser, Greg Weissert, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen followed up with 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Jansen was the only one who even allowed a baserunner.
The Red Sox showed off some power with Jarren Duran (1-for-2) and Reese McGuire (2-for-3) both hitting solo shots, and Vaughn Grissom (1-for-4) and Wilyer Abreu (1-for-4) driving in one run each.
Boston's most electric play of the night came in the top of the eighth inning when Tampa Bay threw down to try to catch Rafael Devers stealing second base with two outs. The throw allowed Duran to make a break for home from home and slide in for a successful steal.
JARREN DURAN IS THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE!
— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) May 22, 2024
Shoutout Raffy for making sure that ball had to go home. pic.twitter.com/necgpsWmfo
It's been a blast watching the Red Sox's offense over the last few days, as they've scored 21 runs and have won by a combined score of 21-5.
This win also brought Boston back to one game over .500 and back into third place in the division over Tampa Bay.
