BOSTON (AP) – Andrew Benintendi hit a go-ahead, two-run single as Boston scored three unearned runs following a dropped throw by second baseman Brad Miller, and the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Monday in the annual Patriots’ Day game.
Benintendi had three singles in the 11:05 a.m. start, which coincides with the Boston Marathon, and the Red Sox won their third straight after losing the opener of the four-game series.
Knuckleballer Steven Wright (1-1) allowed three runs – one earned – and nine hits in six innings. He gave up four homers over 1 1/3 innings in his previous start.
Rookie Ben Taylor gave up a run-scoring single to Souza with two outs in the seventh, then retired Logan Morrison on a bases-loaded flyout. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for a save on the third straight day, his sixth this season.
Boston trailed 2-1 in the second when Miller dropped an easy toss from shortstop Tim Beckham for what would have been an inning-ending forceout on Marco Hernandez’s grounder. Benintendi’s single to center put the Red Sox ahead, and Mookie Betts singled for a 4-2 lead.
Blake Snell (0-2) gave up four runs – one earned – and seven hits in five innings. The Rays completed a 1-6 trip that followed a franchise-best 5-2 start.
Some of the Rays were playful in their clubhouse early in the morning, with Morrison joking to teammates about the starting time: “11 o’clock. Let’s play baseball.”
Brad Miller and Souza hit consecutive run-scoring grounders in the first. Both runs were unearned because Hernandez, Boston’s third baseman, dropped a foul popup by Kevin Kiermaier, who then singled.
Hanley Ramirez’s RBI single in the bottom half cut the lead in half.
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