FENWAY – (Wire Service Report) – Boston’s starter Sonny Gray pitched six innings of one-run ball and Willson Contreras hit a two-run home run, leading the Red Sox to a 6-1 win and a four-game series sweep of the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon.
The Red Sox, who are now on a 13-game win streak, broke open the game with a three-run third inning before Contreras ripped his second homer in three games to round out the scoring in the fifth.
Ceddanne Rafaela went 2-for-4 and scored a run for the Red Sox.
Gray (12-1) scattered one run on five hits — including a solo, inside-the-park home run by Victor Mesa Jr. — en route to his ninth straight quality start. The veteran right-hander has now allowed one run or fewer in five consecutive outings.
Gray threw just 49 of his 91 pitches for strikes, but the Rays went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position on the day. Chandler Simpson (2-for-4) was the lone Tampa Bay batter with multiple hits.
The Red Sox responded to Mesa’s inside-the-park job into the right-center-field triangle in the second by tying the game in the bottom half. After Caleb Durbin hit a leadoff single to left, stole second and took third on a throwing error, Andruw Monasterio doubled into the left field corner to make it a 1-1 game.
A three-run third off Tampa Bay starter Shane McClanahan (8-6) put the hosts in firm control. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out, and a passed ball brought Jahmai Jones home with the leading run. Durbin and Romy Gonzalez followed with an RBI fielder’s choice and groundout, respectively.
The big inning proved to be more than enough offense for Gray, who stranded two runners on base in each of the first three frames before dealing a 1-2-3 fourth and inducing an inning-ending double play in the sixth to conclude his outing.
The Red Sox added to their lead in the fifth, as Rafaela knocked a leadoff single up the middle before scoring on Contreras’ two-run homer to deep right-center field.
McClanahan left after five innings, having given up all six runs (four earned) on five hits. He walked three and fanned three.
Greg Weissert, Jovani Moran and Ryan Watson all pitched scoreless innings to clinch the win for Gray.
–Field Level Media