I'm going to stick with my normal posts of the entire series at once rather than updating posts with each game of the series like I did before last season, but I'm making an exception to get Opening Day up quickly, especially since this is a 4-game series.
Game 1: Opening Day was a rousing success and an auspicious debut for Andy Ruggles as the Rays blanked Boston 3-0 at Publix Park. The second-year outfielder, acquired from Oakland in the offseason, made a great first impression on the Tampa Bay fanbase by going 4-4 with an RBI double for the second run of the game and a solo homer for run #3. Jimmy Leonard homered in the 6th to break up a pitchers' duel between two of the top hurlers in the AL and Ruggles took over from there. If not for Ruggles the big story would have been Danny Romero, who flashed his Cy Young form with 6 2/3 shutout innings for the win. As I alluded to in the Opening Day roster post above, Ken Burgess got the setup call in the 8th despite two lefties due, and he responded by striking out the side before Kikuo Kawase got the Sox 1-2-3 in the 9th on only 5 pitches for the save. Here's the box:
Game 2: The Rays got more excellent pitching and enough hitting to take a 5-2 win over Boston to make it 2 for 2 in 2040. Jordan Perez made his Rays debut, and although he scuffled a bit early he got into a grove and finished 6 6 2 2 2 8 for the win. The much-maligned Ken Neil got the call in the 7th and struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 inning and then stuck around to fan Mario Aguilar to lead off the 8th. Kikuo Kawase made it 2 saves in 2 days in the 9th. All of the Rays' runs came in one inning, the 3rd, and most of it came on one swing: a grand slam homer by Jimmy Leonard, his 2nd round-tripper in as many days. The rally continued and Andy Ruggles came through again with an RBI double for the fifth run.
Game 3: It was the Josh Alexander show as the second-year 1B homered twice and then singled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th to give the Rays a 5-4 win and a 3-0 start to 2040. Alexander also walked twice in his six plate appearances and did his best to make the Tampa Bay fans forget Daniel Vasquez in providing the walk-off winner. It was a comeback job for Tampa Bay as Tim Gates served up a 3-run homer to Mario Aguilar to put Boston ahead 3-1 and it was 4-2 when Jimmy Leonard stayed on pace for 162 homers by going deep for the third straight day with a man on to tie the game in the 6th. From there it was a battle of the bullpens and ours didn't blink with Ken Neil coming through big again (1 2/3 scoreless) and Ed Pretty fanning 3 in 1 1/3. Vinny Willard, the Rays' 6th pitcher of the day, was credited with the win after a scoreless 11th. The winning rally came with two out and nobody on when Boston's Omar Widener walked Jeff Baez and Jaiden Hardaway before Alexander singled the former home. Gates was a mixed bag, going 4.2 5 4 1 2 4 as an error preceding Aguilar's homer made those 3 runs unearned.
Game 4: The Rays will not go 162-0 after being blown out by Boston today 9-2. Ron Adams did not have it as after a quick first he was tattooed for 7 runs in 2 2/3 innings with a pair of homers allowed. Andy Ruggles hit his 2nd homer for one of the Rays' 2 runs.
Team record: 3-1. Next up: 2 games at Yankee Stadium.