BOSTON (AP) — Ben Zobrist had three hits and drove in Tampa Bay’s first two runs during an eighth inning rally for the Rays in a 6-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.

Alex Cobb pitched seven strong innings and Matt Joyce added a solo homer in the ninth for the Rays in the series opener between the bottom two teams in the AL East.

Cobb (9-9) allowed just one run on five hits, striking out three and walking one.

Daniel Nava had an RBI double in the fourth for the Red Sox.

It stood as the game’s only run until Tampa Bay got to Boston starter Clay Buchholz in the eighth.

Buchholz (8-10) had a shutout going through seven, but a leadoff walk and hit batter cost him in the eighth when the Rays rallied for five runs with two outs.

Zobrist doubled with two on to drive in the first two runs and scored on a single by David DeJesus.

Buchholz hit Evan Longoria with a pitch and was replaced by Tommy Layne, whose wild pitch allowed both runners to advance and score easily when James Loney added a single.

All five runs went to Buchholz, who allowed eight hits over 7 2-3 innings.

He struck out six and walked one.

Trainer’s room

Rays: SS Yunel Escobar left the game with a sprained left knee after getting thrown out at the plate in the third inning. Escobar was attempting to slide when his front foot got caught and locked up his leg.

Red Sox: 3B Will Middlebrooks (sprained right hand) and SS Xander Bogaerts (stiff neck) were both in the original starting lineup but were late scratches after batting practice.

Up next

Rays: RHP Jake Odorizzi (11-12, 3.98 ERA) allowed just one run over six innings against the Yankees on Wednesday in his last start.

Red Sox: RHP Anthony Ranaudo (3-3, 5.29) will make his seventh major league start and try to finish the season with a winning record. Ranaudo has picked up the loss in his last three start

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