The Rays had the Yankees series waiting on the horizon, but Friday night at Tropicana Field served as a reminder that the road to an AL East title still runs through the games in front of them. Boston handed Tampa Bay a 4-2 loss, snapping a six-game Rays winning streak and keeping the division race from getting any quieter.
A crowd of 23,342 watched the Red Sox take control early, then survive a long string of Tampa Bay opportunities. The Rays’ AL East lead was trimmed to 4 1/2 games, with New York’s late game in Arizona still pending.
Quick facts
- Final score: Red Sox 4, Rays 2 at Tropicana Field.
- Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak ended.
- Roman Anthony hit a first-inning homer and drove in two more with a second-inning single.
- Ian Seymour allowed two solo homers over five innings.
- The Rays went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position despite drawing nine walks.
Boston built a 4-1 edge through three innings, and Anthony was in the middle of it from the opening frame. He led off the game with a home run against Seymour, then delivered a two-run single in the second. Jahmai Jones added another leadoff solo shot in the third.
Seymour completed five innings, but the home-run issue followed him again. Since returning to a starting and bulk-inning assignment, the left-hander has surrendered 21 homers in 19 appearances, with at least one allowed in 15 of those outings. Seventeen of the 21 have come with the bases empty.
The Rays did not solve Rangers starter Ranger Suarez often, collecting only three hits during his 5 2/3 innings. Still, Tampa Bay kept reaching base via the walk, creating enough traffic to make the game uncomfortable for Boston.
The biggest opening arrived in the sixth. Suarez and reliever Wyatt Olds issued three walks to load the bases, prompting manager Kevin Cash to send Jake Fraley up to hit for shortstop Taylor Walls.
Fraley ran the count full, but Olds finished the at-bat with a 97.2 mph fastball for the strikeout. It was the defining missed chance in a night when the Rays could not find the extra-base hit or ground ball through the infield that had shown up so often during their recent surge.
The loss also removed the slim path for Tampa Bay to clinch its first division crown since 2021 at home this weekend. That scenario required a three-game Rays sweep of Boston along with an Arizona sweep of the Yankees.
Instead, the Rays will keep working through the Red Sox series before heading to Yankee Stadium next week for four games that may settle the division. Boston, meanwhile, arrived in St. Petersburg looking to lock down a postseason berth before leaving Sunday night, adding another October edge to a September weekend at the Trop.
