ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Richie Palacios dropped a fly ball into shallow right in the ninth inning to score Junior Caminero and give the Tampa Bay Rays a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.
Tampa Bay, which has three walk-off wins on its current homestand, lowered its magic number to clinch the AL East to five games. The second-place Yankees are in Arizona on Saturday night.
Prior to Palacios' single, the Rays were 0 for 17 with runners
in scoring position over the first two games of the series. The postseason-bound Rays, who’ve won seven of their last eight, capitalized on two fortuitous bounces in the ninth.
First, Caminero’s foul popup bounced off the Tropicana Field catwalk and out of the reach of third baseman Caleb Durbin. Caminero then lined the next pitch from Garrett Whitlock (7-2) into left. Three batters later, after Chandler Simpson singled, Connor Wong's passed ball moved Caminero to third.
Bidding to clinch a wild-card berth, the Red Sox squandered a prime opportunity in the top of the ninth.
Facing closer Bryan Baker (4-2) in a tie game, Boston got Caleb Durbin's double and Jarren Duran's triple. However, Nick Fortes threw out Durbin stealing third and Caminero made a stellar play at third base to retire Isiah Kiner-Falefa, stranding Duran.
Boston also wasted a phenomenal effort from starter Brayan Bello, who matched a career high with 11 strikeouts. In eight innings, he allowed five hits, one run and no walks. Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman (lat tightness) was unavailable.
The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead with bookend doubles from Durbin and Roman Anthony in the third inning. Trevor Story extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a sixth-inning single.
Jonathan Aranda tied it with an opposite-field solo homer on the first pitch of the Rays’ fourth.
The Rays are an MLB-best 25-14 in one-run games.
RHP Griffin Jax (7-10, 3.80 ERA) gets the nod for the Rays on Sunday in the series finale. Boston had not announced a starter.
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