Xander Bogaerts exits game with ankle injury

The BoSox are rolling with lefty Eduardo Rodriguez as their starter.

According to oddsmakers at YouWager, Boston is favored in this game, as the Red Sox are getting odds of -170 to win against Tampa Bay.

Bogaerts injured himself sliding into the Rays’ dugout in an attempt to not let the stray ball result in an extra base, with Tampa Bay baserunner Joey Wendle reaching third. Cora also said that it’s “most likely” that he’d return to the rotation if things went well.

David Price was in sterling shape, surrendering just three hits (with three walks) in his seven scoreless innings, just a tad better than the start by Yonny Chirinos (five innings, three hits, no walks). He retired 20 of 21 batters – and 17 in a row – after giving up two runs in the first. The bullpen has a 3.77 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 10.4 K/9. Granted, the numbers have been run up against two struggling teams – six of the games against Tampa Bay and two against Miami, but 1.28 is 1.28.

Rodriguez, who turned 25 on Saturday, didn’t appear in any Grapefruit League games this spring while rehabbing from patellofemoral ligament reconstruction surgery on his right knee. “And we don’t want to do anything to effect the rest of the guys and bring him in too early”.

Bogaerts was removed in the top of seventh inning Sunday against the Rays after sustaining an apparent left ankle injury when he slid into a protective railing near the Tampa Bay dugout, Sean McAdam of BostonSportsJournal.com reports. “I think it’s a mix of us putting together some good at-bats and putting some pressure and making him make pitches”. “We’ve just got to continue to focus day by day whoever the opponent is”. Seager and Heredia each hit two-run home runs, and Healy had a bases-clearing double in a five-run eighth inning for the Mariners, who bounced back from a loss to the Twins on Friday. They have been errorless through eight games for the first time in club history.

“It’s his first home run with us so it was just kind of a, ‘silent treatment”. Now, they’ll face the same competition again at Fenway Park for their home opener.

Rays: CF Kevin Kiermaier was out of the lineup because he was sick.

Saturday’s 1 2/3-inning/73-pitch disaster start by Jake Faria certainly didn’t help matters.

“It’s frustrating, it’s embarrassing”, he said. He is 13-8 with a 3.20 ERA, a 1.173 WHIP, 27 walks and 140 strikeouts over 158.2 innings of action against them.