Roman Anthony wasted no time giving the Red Sox a jolt Friday night, and Boston needed every bit of it.
Anthony launched a 438-foot homer on Ian Seymour’s third pitch of the game, added a two-run single in the second, and finished with three RBIs as the Red Sox edged the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 at Tropicana Field. Ranger Suárez worked through a shaky 5 2/3 innings, and Boston’s bullpen survived a wild finish to snap Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak.
The win moved Boston to 84-70 and kept the club on the doorstep of a postseason berth. The Red Sox entered the series opener with a magic number of three to clinch an American League wild-card spot and could lock it up as early as Saturday.
It was far from smooth.
Boston pitchers handed out nine walks, including four over the final four innings, and Tampa Bay kept piling on the pressure. The Rays loaded the bases in the sixth and again in the ninth, but they finished 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 men.
Anthony made the first punch count. His leadoff blast to center gave Boston a 1-0 lead before many of the 23,342 in attendance had settled in. It was his fifth homer of the season and his third leadoff shot of the year.
Tampa Bay answered in the bottom of the first when Junior Caminero brought home Yandy Díaz with a groundout. Boston quickly flipped the script in the second. Trevor Story singled, Caleb Durbin followed with another hit, and after Nate Eaton drew a walk to load the bases, Anthony lined a two-out single to right that scored both Story and Durbin.
Jahmai Jones added the other Red Sox run with a 414-foot solo shot to left in the third. It was Jones’ sixth homer of the year and it pushed Boston ahead 4-1, a cushion that held until the ninth.
Suárez did not have much breathing room, but he kept finding escape routes. The lefty allowed three hits and one run, struck out five, walked five and threw 98 pitches to get 17 outs.
His biggest moment came in the fourth, when Taylor Walls ripped a 100-mph line drive back at him. Suárez snagged it and doubled off Nick Fortes to erase a dangerous inning.
Wyatt Olds entered with two outs in the sixth and immediately created more trouble with two walks, but he regrouped to strike out Jake Fraley with the bases loaded and keep Boston in front by three. Greg Weissert then gave the Red Sox their steadiest stretch of the night, allowing one hit across two scoreless innings.
The ninth nearly unraveled everything.
Erik Miller came in with a 4-1 lead and turned the final inning into a marathon. He walked two batters, threw three wild pitches and needed 32 pitches to get through the frame. Jonathan Aranda cut the margin to 4-2 with a fielder’s choice, and Tampa Bay eventually loaded the bases with two outs.
Chandler Simpson came up with the potential winning run at the plate, but Miller got him to roll over to third. Caleb Durbin handled the force at second to end it, and Miller picked up his fifth save despite allowing one run, one hit and two walks.
Boston will take the win, especially at this point in the season. Still, the walks were impossible to ignore.
The Red Sox will try to clinch their postseason spot Saturday in the second game of the three-game set in Tampa Bay. The Rays are scheduled to start right-hander Freddy Peralta, while Boston has yet to announce it's starter.
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