Apr 13, 2023 4 min read

The Tampa Bay Rays tied Major League Baseball’s post-1900 record for 13 consecutive wins at a season’s start, rallying to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-3 Thursday behind a seven-run fifth inning that Harold Ramirez began and capped with doubles.

Tampa Bay matched the 13-0 start of the 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers. The only longer opening streak was a 20-0 start by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association. The Rays have won all but two of the games by four or more runs and have outscored opponents 101-30 with the most runs in the big leagues and the fewest allowed.

Playing before a crowd of 21,175, the largest at Tropicana Field since opening day, the Rays set a team record for wins at any point in a season by topping a 12-game run in June 2004.

Boston, held to four hits, has lost 13 consecutive games at the Trop.

Rays starter Jeffrey Springs left two pitches into the fourth inning with what the team said was ulnar neuritis, inflammation of the ulnar nerve that causes numbness or weakness. He was relieved after throwing a 79.8 mph changeup and a 83.5 mph to Justin Turner, then looking at his hand and elbow.

Tampa Bay trailed 3-1 in the fifth. Ramirez started the big rally with a double off Corey Kluber (0-3) and broke open the game with a three-run double against Richard Bleier.

Baltimore 8, Oakland 7: Adley Rutschman led off the ninth inning with a tiebreaking homer off Trevor May, and the Baltimore Orioles also got a long ball from hot-hitting Ryan Mountcastle in an 8-7 victory over the struggling Oakland Athletics.

Mountcastle’s sixth home run. his fourth of the four-game series, sparked a four-run third inning that provided Baltimore with a 7-4 lead.

Oakland pulled even behind Brent Rooker, who homered twice and drove in five runs.

National League

Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 2: Wil Myers hit a pair of run-scoring singles and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 after after getting swept in a three-game series at Atlanta.

Spencer Steer, Tyler Stephenson and Jose Barrero drove in runs for the Reds, who had lost six of seven after a 3-1 start – the last four all by one run.

Kyle Schwarber became the first left-handed batter to hit a home run off Nick Lodolo (2-0), a left-hander in his second major league season. The defending National League champions have lost three straight and are 4-9.

Interleague

Major League Baseball umpire Larry Vanover remained hospitalized after being hit in the head with a relay throw during Wednesday’s game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians.

Vanover was struck on the left side of his head in the fifth inning by a throw from Guardians All-Star Andrés Giménez. The 67-year-old Vanover was standing between second base and the pitching mound when he got hit.

The impact knocked Vanover to the ground and the frightening moment drew a collective gasp from the Progressive Field crowd.

Vanover was taken to the Cleveland Clinic, where he was checked for a concussion and other medical issues. He was kept in the hospital overnight for observation, and there was no immediate word on when he’ll be released.

“That was scary,” said plate umpire Chris Guccione, who worked the rest of the game with a three-man crew. “Very hard to focus after that, after you see a colleague get hit.”

Vanover will need to be cleared by MLB doctors before he can return to the field. He had been scheduled to work in Cincinnati on Thursday.