ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A former teammate created a speed bump for the playoff-contending Tampa Bay Rays.
Nathan Eovaldi pitched six gritty innings, Christian Vazquez hit a three-run homer and the Boston Red Sox beat the Rays 7-4 Sunday.
Tampa Bay dropped into a tie with Cleveland for the second AL wild card, and both teams trail Oakland by two games for the top spot. The Rays won the first two games of the series by identical 5-4 scores in 11 innings.
The defending World Series champion Red Sox were eliminated from postseason play Friday night.
Eovaldi (2-0) gave up three runs and seven hits in picking up his first win as a starter since last Sept. 24. The right-hander had elbow surgery to remove a loose body in late April and has been building up innings over the last month.
Eovaldi was traded by Tampa Bay to Boston in late July 2018 and won both his playoff starts and ended up with an 1.61 ERA in six overall appearances.
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