Matt Garza threw eight shutout innings and Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton hit two-run homers as the Tampa Bay Rays posted a 7-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Ben Zobrist had two hits and drove in a pair for the Rays, who will look for the four-game sweep on Monday.
Garza (3-0) has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in the season's first month. The right-hander held the Red Sox to four hits and struck out five to lower his ERA to 0.75.
Jon Lester (0-2) continued to struggle for Boston. He allowed seven runs and seven hits in six innings. Pena's homer in the second got the Rays rolling and Upton's homer in the sixth helped seal it.
Zobrist added a two-run single in the third, making it 4-0 and Gabe Kapler had an RBI groundout in the sixth.
Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly in the ninth off Mike Ekstrom scored Boston's only run.
Tampa Bay | Boston | |
Matt Garza | Player | Jon Lester |
Win | W/L | Loss |
8.0 | IP | 6.0 |
5 | Strikeouts | 5 |
4 | Hits | 7 |
0.00 | ERA | 10.50 |
Tampa Bay | Boston | |
Ben Zobrist | Player | Adrian Beltre |
2 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 3 |
.500 | Avg | .667 |