Kevin Kiermaier celebrates with his Tampa Bay teammates after hitting a walkoff two-run homer in the 10th inning Saturday against the Boston Red Sox. Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kevin Kiermaier capped Tampa Bay’s three-run 10th inning with a game-ending homer, and the Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Saturday night after losing their bid for a combined no-hitter in the top of the 10th.
Matt Wisler (1-0) surrendered Boston’s first hit when Bobby Dalbec opened the 10th with a triple, driving in automatic runner Jackie Bradley Jr. for a 1-0 lead. Christian Vázquez followed with a sacrifice fly to left.
Hansel Robles (1-1) then came in for Boston and struck out the first two Tampa Bay batters in the bottom half. But automatic runner Randy Arozarena advanced on a balk and scored when Taylor Walls reached on a throwing error by second baseman Trevor Story.
After Walls swiped second, Kiermaier drove Robles’ 3-1 pitch deep to right for his first homer of the season.
Boston finished with two hits. Tampa Bay had three.
“You don’t want to see that go to waste,” Kiermaier said. “They threw great. Both sides did. This is about as good a pitchers’ duel as you can get, each team using six or seven arms. But this is 2022 for you. Nothing is normal anymore.”
Brandon Lowe’s leadoff double in the fourth off Boston starter Garrett Whitlock was the only hit of the game before Brett Phillips’ two-out single in the eighth off Kutter Crawford. Mike Zunino followed with a 400-foot fly ball hauled in by Kiké Hernández at the wall in center.
Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Whitlock delivers a pitch Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Whitlock, making his first start in the majors, struck out seven and allowed only one hit in four innings. Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press
Whitlock, who made 46 relief appearances for Boston last season, struck out seven in four innings in his first major league start.J.P. Feyereisen pitched two perfect innings as Tampa Bay’s opener, striking out two. Javy Guerra then got two outs before Jeffrey Springs pitched two innings. Jason Adam got four outs, Ryan Thompson pitched the seventh and Andrew Kittredge worked the eighth and ninth.
“It’s challenging, but they’re also all really good,” said Boston bench coach Will Venable, who is filling in for ailing manager Alex Cora. “We know our work’s cut out for us when we play these guys. They have a lot of great pitchers that can mix and match and do a lot of different things.”
The homer was Kiermaier’s first since Aug. 16.
“I just hope that HR makes me click so I can make more of an offensive contribution,” he said. “Hasn’t been great so far, but I’m going to get my swings and hope this is a turning point for me.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: Outfielder/designated hitter J.D. Martinez took batting practice but missed a third straight game because of left abductor tightness. … Two days after testing positive for COVID-19, Cora remained in Boston with mild symptoms, according to Venable.
Rays: Infielder Yandy Diaz was placed on the COVID-19-related injured list, a day after catcher Francisco Mejia went on the same list. Utilityman Vidal Brujan was called up from Triple-A Durham to take Diaz’s roster spot.
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