Trevor Story, left, celebrates with Kiké Hernandez after scoring a run Friday night during Boston’s 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla. Scott Audette/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Xander Bogaerts had three hits and scored twice in the first five innings Friday night and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3.
Wander Franco, Tampa Bay’s 21-year-old shortstop, had the first multi-homer game of his career.
Michael Wacha (1-0) gave up two runs on three hits, including Franco’s two homers, in five innings to get his first win for Boston.
Matt Barnes got Franco on a groundout for his first save after Jake Diekman walked the bases loaded in the ninth.
Trevor Story, Bogaerts, Alex Verdugo and Kiké Hernandez hit four of Corey Kluber’s first 14 pitches for singles, giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.
Kluber (0-1) gave up four runs on 11 hits in five innings.
Franco’s homer made it 2-1 in the bottom of the first. Rafael Devers led off the third inning with his third homer of the season for Boston. Bogaerts followed with a double and scored on Hernandez’s single to make it 4-1.
Franco homered leading off the fifth, and shortstop Bogaerts’ second error of the game helped the Rays score another run in the seventh.
It was the second straight three-hit game for Bogaerts, who is hitting .385.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: J.D. Martinez was out of the lineup for a second straight game after leaving Wednesday’s game in the third inning because of left adductor tightness. … Manager Alex Cora is not with the team after testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
Rays: Catcher Francisco Mejía tested positive and was placed on the COVID-19 injured list. … Right-hander Chris Mazza was placed on the 10-day IL because of back spasms. … Catcher René Pinto and left-hander Colin Poche were recalled from Triple-A Durham.
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