BOSTON — Romy Gonzalez singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th as the Boston Red Sox rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Gonzalez dropped a hit to shallow right off reliever Manuel Rodríguez, who had intentionally walked Tyler O’Neill to start the inning. Instead of forcing a possible double play, the move allowed Connor Wong to easily score the game-winner after a wild few extra innings.
“It’s huge. Getting a walk-off win in the big leagues is unbelievable,” said Gonzalez, who was overwhelmed by a swarm of celebrating teammates shortly after rounding first base.
Cedanne Rafaela homered for Boston in the fifth and delivered a sacrifice bunt in the 11th that helped atone for his throwing error, which allowed Tampa Bay to take a brief 4-3 lead. Rafaela was relieved after the game to have come through offensively after his defensive gaffe.
“I already did the error,” Rafaela said he thought as he came to the plate in the 11th. “I just have to do something to bring that run in.”
The bunt moved David Hamilton, who opened the inning on second, to advance to third and score easily when Rodríguez fielded a grounder up the middle.
“The kid makes an error and he came back and turned the page right away,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “He finished the game the way he should and he played all the way to the end.”
Boston ended a six-game home losing streak to the Rays. Brennan Bernardino (2-1) got the win and Rodríguez (0-1) took the loss.
Josh Lowe hit a solo homer in the first and Randy Arozarena got one in the sixth.
The Rays made a base-running blunder in the 11th when Ben Rortvedt, who opened the inning on second, got caught in a rundown between third and home. Arozarena made it to second and went on to score on the error by Rafaela.
Boston starter Nick Pivetta pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts.
Civale, a Connecticut native who played in college nearby at Northeastern University, made his Fenway Park debut. He pitched five innings, allowing three runs on five hits.
HOT SHOT
Boston reliever Chris Martin managed to get his head out of the way and his glove in the right place to catch a screaming line drive by Lowe for the third out in the seventh. Martin then fell to the mound and laid sprawled out for several moments as trainers came out of the bullpen to check on him. Martin eventually got to his feet and got a loud round of cheers from fans who had just seen the replay.
SCOREBOARD
The Red Sox added an extra game at the end of the left field scoreboard. The Boston Bruins were playing the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the second round of the NHL playoffs. Fans cheered when the final 2-1 score flashed and the Bruins remained alive to host Game 6 on Thursday night.
Rays: Reinstated IF Jonathan Aranda (fractured right finger) from the 10-day injured list and optioned IF Austin Shenton to Triple-A Durham. … Paredes returned to the lineup as the designated hitter, two days after getting hit in the helmet by a pitch. Paredes was off Monday for the series opener.
Red Sox: RHP Garrett Whitlock (left oblique strain) is scheduled to make a rehab start with Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday. Manager Alex Cora said Whitlock was able to throw in the mid-90s recently and could rejoin the rotation by next week.
UP NEXT
Rays: RHP Taj Bradley (0-1, 1.50 ERA) gets his second start following an early stint on the injured list with a strained pectoral. Bradley, who was 2-0 against Boston as a rookie last year, pitched six innings against the Yankees in his season debut May 10, allowing four hits and one run in his season debut.
Red Sox: RHP Tanner Houck (3-4, 2.24) gets the start for Boston, where he has an ERA of 2.54 through four starts this season.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB