ST. PETERBURG, Fla. — It was not what Jemile Weeks had in mind for his Boston Red Sox debut – getting picked off as a pinch runner in the top of the 10th inning.
Matt Joyce had an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to give Tampa Bay a 4-3 win over Boston on Monday, giving the Rays of split of the four-game series.
Acquired from Baltimore in a four-player deal on Saturday, Weeks ran for Christian Vazquez after the Red Sox catcher had singled off Grant Balfour with one out in the 10th. Balfour (2-6) caught Weeks leaning the wrong way and picked him off.
“He probably knows at some point I was going to go, so he probably did what he doesn’t usually do in that sequence,” Weeks said of Balfour, an ex-Oakland A’s teammate. “It’s definitely not a good feeling, but I think the staff and everybody knows that we play the percentages there and he went completely against what he usually does.”
Ryan Hanigan opened the bottom of the 10th with a double off Burke Badenhop (0-3), which withstood a replay review. Kevin Kiermaier was intentionally walked before Ben Zobrist had a sacrifice bunt. After Wil Myers was given an intentional walk, pinch-runner Sean Rodriquez, who ran for Hanigan, scored on Joyce’s hit to left.
Myers had an RBI double and Evan Longoria drove in two with a single off Rubby De La Rosa as the Rays took a 3-1 lead in the third.
But Mike Napoli hit a solo homer in the fourth, and Yoenis Cespedes got the Red Sox even at 3-3 with an RBI single off Steve Geltz in the eighth.
De La Rosa allowed three runs and six hits over 51/3 innings.
Mookie Betts put the Red Sox up 1-0 with a run-scoring double in the third. The rookie had six RBI, including a grand slam Friday night, in the four-game series.
Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who has not played since experiencing concussion-like symptoms on a play Saturday night, said he is feeling better and hopes to play as soon as Tuesday against the New York Yankees.
“Today I didn’t have a headache so that was good. . . . I’m feeling normal for the most part,” Pedroia said.
NOTES: Red Sox Manager John Farrell explained his decision not to use closer Koji Uehara on Monday, or in the entire series: “(I’m) trying to hold Koji back in the event of a save opportunity, but given where we are in this part of the season, I’m not going to bring him in in a tie game on the road, at least in that situation where we’ve still got a fresh arm in Badenhop.”
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