BOSTON — James Loney drove in two runs, including the winning run on a one-out bloop single to center in the eighth inning, as the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a three-game sweep with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.
The first baseman’s go-ahead hit scored Rays shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera from second. Cabrera hit a ground rule double to right to tie the game as third baseman Evan Longoria crossed the plate. Longoria led off the eighth with a double off the Green Monster in left field.
Loney and Cabrera each had two hits and right fielder Brandon Guyer hit a solo homer and walked twice to lead Tampa Bay (52-54), which moved within two games of .500.
Right-hander Steve Geltz (2-4) earned the win in relief for the Rays.
Jake Odorizzi took a no-decision for Tampa Bay. The right-hander allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out five in six innings.
Right-hander Junichi Tazawa (2-4) gave up the tying and winning runs for Boston (47-59).
Wade Miley did not factor in the decision either, as the Red Sox left-hander was charged with two runs on five hits and a walk and struck out four in 6 2/3 innings.
“I thought he blended his offspeed pitches in well against a heavily right-handed-hitting lineup,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “The 3-2 fastball that Guyer runs into to get things started, other than that he was in command for the time that he was on the mound today.”
Left fielder Hanley Ramirez was 2-for-4 and drove in a run, designated hitter David Ortiz was 1-for-3 with an RBI, and first baseman Mike Napoli was 1-for-4 with an RBI for Boston.
Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval, making his return from a left forearm injury, struck out swinging as a pinch hitter for catcher Ryan Hanigan in the ninth.
Guyer took Miley deep on the seventh pitch of the game for his second leadoff home run of the season to put Tampa Bay up 1-0.
Ramirez’s one-out double off the Green Monster in the bottom of the first tied it for the Red Sox and Napoli singled to center to plate Ramirez and make it a 2-1 game.
Ortiz sent another double off the Green Monster with one out in the third, extending the Red Sox lead to 3-1.
Loney’s two-out double to right in the fourth scored Cabrera to cut the Rays’ deficit to 3-2.
Tampa Bay designated hitter Joey Butler struck out swinging with the bases loaded to end the seventh after Red Sox left-hander Robbie Ross Jr. hit and walked a batter in relief of Miley.
On Saturday, Boston’s Travis Shaw knew he would have some sort of opportunity.
What exactly it would be was a mystery.
The rookie infielder was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday night and learned Saturday morning that he would be starting in place of injured Sandoval at third base.
He didn’t let the chance pass him by.
Shaw slugged the first two homers of his major league career and had three RBIs as the Red Sox overcame another shaky start from Joe Kelly in an 11-7 win over the Rays .
“I tried to stick to my approach and not do too much,” said Shaw, who finished with a career-high four hits and was a triple short of the cycle. “Once you get a couple of hits, your confidence level goes up and you feel good about yourself and I was able to carry through the whole game.”
Shaw’s first home run was a third-inning solo shot to right field and his second was a three-run blast in the eighth.
“Very relaxed, confident, good swings,” Farrell said. “Power to the stroke.”
Shaw also scored five runs, becoming the first Red Sox player to do so since injured second baseman Dustin Pedroia scored five times against the Texas Rangers on Aug 12, 2008.