The Tampa Bay Rays are coming close to putting their struggles at Fenway Park behind them, but they still trail the Red Sox 4-3 in the fifth inning.
Boston got to Tampa Bay starter Matt Moore early when Cody Ross hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the second that scored Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz. Boston added one more run in the bottom of the fourth when a Kelly Shoppach double made the score 4-0.
Carlos Pena nearly hit his fourth home run of the season in the top of the fifth with two men on, but the ball hooked foul and was upheld by a review. Pena would hit a double in that at bat to make it 4-1. The next batter, Evan Longoria then hit a two-run double to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Moore has allowed four runs on five hits while walking one batter and striking out four. His mound opponent, Felix Doubront has been shaky, allowing eighth hits in five innings but has been able to get seven strikeouts.
For more news and updates from around the league, be sure to drop by Baseball Nation or the Rays blog DRaysBay. For more on the Red Sox visit SB Nation's Red Sox blog Over The Monster. And for a peak at the analysis behind the numbers, head over to Beyond the Box Score.