BOSTON — Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run triple and added a pair of doubles, and the Boston Red Sox scored seven straight runs Friday night after allowing three in the first to beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-3.

Jackie Bradley Jr. had two hits, including an RBI double in the sixth, and the Red Sox improved on the best record in the majors with their 87th victory.

Brian Johnson recovered after getting roughed up in the first with three runs on four hits and a walk. Johnson (4-3) didn’t allow another run and pitched 5 2/3 innings before leaving after Joey Wendle’s two-out double in the sixth – Tampa Bay’s first hit since the first inning.

Wendle drove in two runs with a double in the first and Carlos Gomez had an RBI single for the Rays.

Yonny Chirinos (1-5) took over for Ryne Stanek in the second and allowed five runs on nine hits over six innings.

Bogaerts pulled Boston within 3-2 on a triple to center in the first, then led off the fourth with a double. Eduardo Nunez drove him in with a single to make it 3-3, and the Red Sox added another run after Mookie Betts’ leadoff double in the fifth and a one-out single by Mitch Moreland.

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Mallex Smith had a pair of hits for the Rays and a made a great catch in the second on a sinking ball hit by Nunez, running it down in shallow right just before crashing hard into the wall with his left hip. Smith held onto the ball despite tumbling into the front row and remained in the game after a quick visit from the trainer.

Bradley answered in the third inning for Boston when he ran down a long fly near the wall and made a leaping catch just in front of the 379-foot mark for the second out.

Johnson walked Tommy Pham with two outs in the first before C.J. Cron and Wendle hit consecutive doubles, and Gomez singled to drive in Wendle for a 3-0 lead.

Stanek allowed two runs on two hits in the first, his only inning after coming out of the bullpen in the eighth inning Thursday in the Rays’ win at New York.

THE RED SOX activated second baseman Ian Kinsler from the disabled list and put him in the starting lineup.

Kinsler batted sixth and played second base.

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The Red Sox also put third baseman Rafael Devers on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, retroactive to Thursday.

Kinsler missed 11 games with a strained left hamstring.

He was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels on July 30 and played in just three games with Boston before straining his hamstring Aug. 3 while scoring a run in the first inning of a victory against the New York Yankees.

The 36-year-old Kinsler went 4 for 10, drove in two runs and stole two bases with Boston before getting hurt.


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