Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run home run to help the Boston Red Sox stretch their winning streak to 10 games by beating the visiting Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Sunday.
Rafaela’s home run came against Tampa Bay starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot and gave the Red Sox a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning. It was his 14th home run of the season and his fifth in his last eight games.
Boston’s Brayan Bello (6-3) held the Rays to one run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five. Aroldis Chapman struck out each of the three batters he faced in the ninth to earn his 17th save.
Pepiot (6-7) was pulled after six innings. He gave up four runs (three earned) and seven hits, struck out three and walked one.
The victory gave Boston a four-game sweep of Tampa Bay. It’s the first time the Red Sox have won 10 games in a row since July 2018.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the third. Marcelo Mayer doubled and moved to third on Connor Wong’s groundout. It appeared that Tampa Bay catcher Matt Thaiss picked Mayer off third, but third baseman Junior Caminero was called for obstruction and Mayer was awarded home.
Tampa Bay tied the game in the fourth. Jake Mangum doubled, advanced to third on a Bello wild pitch and scored on Josh Lowe’s sacrifice fly.
The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead on Trevor Story’s two-out single in the sixth. The hit scored Roman Anthony, who doubled and moved to third on Masataka Yoshida’s groundout. Rafaela’s two-run homer came next and gave the Red Sox a three-run cushion.
Story had two of Boston’s eight hits.
Mangum and Yandy Diaz each collected two hits for Tampa Bay, which also had eight hits. The Rays enter the All-Star break on a four-game losing streak.
Red Sox complete four-game sweep of Rays, win streak at 10
