The Tampa Bay Rays were pounded 12-2 in the first game of the their three-game road series with the Boston Red Sox on Friday. The Red Sox offense had been struggling early in the season, but their bats came alive against the Rays. Unfortunately for the Red Sox however, they lost center field Jacoby Ellsbury for quite a while when Ellsbury was trying to break up a double play.
The Rays started out hot winning their first three games, but have dropped three of their last four and will be looking to avoid a three-game losing streak on Saturday against the Red Sox. The Rays will also be looking to get manager Joe Maddon his 500th victory as the Rays manager.
Starting PItchers:
Tampa Bay: Hellickson (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Boston: Buchholz (0-0, 15.75 ERA)
Game Time: 4:05 PM ET, April 14, 2012
Location: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
TV: NESN, FSNFL
We'll have plenty more on this series throughout the weekend here on SB Nation Tampa Bay, so keep it locked to this StoryStream for all the latest news and updates. For more on this series and all things Tampa Bay Rays baseball, please head over to DRaysBay. For some perspective from the other dugout please check out Over the Monster, SB Nation's Boston Red Sox blog. For this series and every other Major League Baseball game, as always, head over to the SB Nation MLB hub page.