Triston Casas’ go-ahead, three-run homer lifted the Boston Red Sox to their first road victory in 14 games against Tampa Bay, as they beat the Rays 7-3 on Monday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Casas, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and notched a career-high four RBIs, added an insurance single in a three-run eighth for the Red Sox (72-66), whose most recent win on Florida’s Gulf Coast was 4-3 on April 22, 2022.
Masataka Yoshida was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, Adam Duvall had an RBI single and Rafael Devers walked twice and scored twice with a stolen base.
Boston starter Brayan Bello (11-8) started slowly but rebounded to toss six innings and yield three runs on five hits. He whiffed seven and walked two.
For the Rays (83-55), Josh Lowe was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, and Brandon Lowe drove in two runs.
Starter Aaron Civale carved through Boston’s lineup for a career-high 12 strikeouts, but he gave up three runs on two hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 98-pitch no-decision.
In the first inning, a single by Josh Lowe and walk to Randy Arozarena led to a perfectly executed double steal before Brandon Lowe singled them in. Harold Ramirez doubled into the left-field corner — their third ground-ball hit — for a three-run advantage.
From his first pitch in his sixth Rays start, Civale was sharp. The right-hander struck out six of the first 10 batters he faced over a perfect 3 1/3 innings before walking Devers and Justin Turner.
Duvall cashed in later in the frame by ripping a two-out RBI single to left to make it 3-1, but Civale got a swinging strikeout of Yoshida to get out of trouble.
Bello settled in after the bad first frame by retiring 11 straight batters — seven on grounders — and kept the visitors within reach.
As the first batter facing reliever Chris Devenski (3-4) in the sixth, Casas blasted a 1-0 changeup 419 feet to center field — a three-run shot for a 4-3 Boston lead.
Bello protected it in the sixth by stranding Josh Lowe, who led off with a double, at third. The right-hander fanned Arozarena looking and Ramirez swinging to keep the one-run margin.
In the eighth, Yoshida went deep to almost the same spot for his 15th homer as Casas did for his 23rd long ball to push the lead to 7-3.
