PAReading: 2 min.
ST PETERSBURG, Fla., USA – The Tampa Bay Rays matched their best start to a season in the majors since 1900 with a 9-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. Harold Ramirez led off the fifth inning with a double.
Tampa Bay (13-0) matched the starts of the 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers. The St. Louis Maroons were only 20-0 in a season opener, but the Union Association.
The Rays have won 11 of their games by four or more runs and have outscored their opponents 101-30. This is the most runs and fewest goals scored by any team this season.
With 21,175 spectators, the largest crowd at Tropicana Field since the opening game, the Rays set the franchise record for consecutive wins at any point in the season. By June 2004, they had 12 wins.
Limited to four wins, Boston has lost 13 straight games at the Tropicana.
Kevin Kelly (1-0), a 25-year-old right-hander who made his debut on April 1, pitched 2 2-3 innings to get the win.
Tampa Bay trailed 3-1 in the fifth inning. Ramirez, a Colombian, had a big hit with a double (0-3) against Corey Kluber and a triple against Richard Bleier.
For the Red Sox, Mexican Alex Vertigo is 4-0. Puerto Rican Kik Hernandez went 4-0.
For the Rays, Yandy Díaz of Cuba went 4-1 with a run and an RBI. Mexican-Cuban Randy Arrozarena went 4-1 with a score and an assist. Dominicans Vander Franco is 3-0 with a run, Manuel Marcotte is 2-1 with a run and an RBI, Francisco Mejia is 4-1 with a run and an RBI. Ramirez, a Colombian, went 4-3 with a run scored and three RBIs.
