Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Tampa Bay 3, Boston 0
When: 7:10 PM ET, Saturday, July 26, 2014
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Chad Fairchild, 1B - Victor Carapazza, 2B - Marcus Pattillo, 3B - Bill Miller
Attendance: 26659

Rays 3, Red Sox 0: Ben Zobrist homered while Matt Joyce and Kevin Kiermaier each recorded two hits and an RBI as host Tampa Bay extended its winning streak to nine games.

Jeremy Hellickson and four relievers combined to scatter eight hits and record 10 strikeouts for the Rays, whose winning streak is the second-longest in franchise history. Grant Balfour (1-3) worked 1 2/3 frames for the win and Jake McGee cruised through the ninth for his 11th save as Tampa Bay improved to 5-0 against Boston at home.

John Lackey (11-7) took a tough-luck loss after giving up three runs (two earned) and eight hits with four walks and four strikeouts in seven innings. The Red Sox, who have lost five in a row following a five-game winning streak, stranded nine baserunners and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

An error and a walk to begin the bottom of the first set things up for Joyce, whose single to right field plated Desmond Jennings to open the scoring. Keirmaier doubled the advantage in the fourth with a base hit to center field that scored Yunel Escobar and Zobrist made it 3-0 with a two-out blast to right in the seventh.

Boston left at least one runner in scoring position four times and hit into inning-ending double plays twice. Mike Napoli had a single and two walks for the Red Sox while David Ortiz recorded a double in the first after it was ruled that a fan who caught the ball in the first row of the right-field stands had interfered.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Red Sox earlier Saturday traded veteran RHP Jake Peavy to San Francisco for LHP Edwin Escobar and RHP Heath Hembree, who both were optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Tampa Bay's longest winning streak was a 12-game run in 2004. It had won eight in a row three other times. ... Hellickson scattered five hits and two walks while striking out five in 4 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from elbow surgery.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Boston   Tampa Bay
John Lackey Player Jeremy Hellickson
Loss W/L No Decision
7.0 IP 4.2
4 Strikeouts 5
8 Hits 5
2.57 ERA 0.00
Hitting
Boston   Tampa Bay
Jonny Gomes Player Matt Joyce
1 Hits 2
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
1 TB 2
.500 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Boston 8 0 9 .242 20 10 0 3 0 1
Tampa Bay 9 1 12 .290 20 5 3 4 0 0