Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Sox blank Rays thanks to an Early gem

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 08: Ceddanne Rafaela #3 of the Boston Red Sox celebrate his solo home run during the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on May 08, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by China Wong/Getty Images) | Getty Images The Yankees opened their series with the Brewers on a low-note, getting shutout by Jacob Misiorowski for six innings while Max Fried dropped his worst start of the season on the other side. Unfortunately, Spencer Jones’ MLB debut was overshadowed by the team at large struggling on Friday, collecting just three hits on the night.

New York’s misfortune is the rest of the league’s opportunity though, so let’s see how the field fared. Boston Red Sox (17-22) 2, Tampa Bay Rays (25-13) 0 The Rays were set up to capitalize and claim first place in the division back, but the Red Sox had other ideas. Connelly Early tossed seven innings without allowing a run, striking out eight batters and walking one with just four hits on the day.

The Rays did get one chance in the third inning to strike, loading the bases with no outs on a pair of singles and a walk. Early got Ryan Vilade to strike out for the first out, and induced a 5-4-3 double play out of Junior Caminero to escape the jam. View Link Wilyer Abreu made the missed opportunity sting even more in the bottom half, hitting a solo home run to right field to put Boston on the board.

Ceddanne Rafaela followed suit in the fourth, hitting one out to left to make it 2-0. No other Boston batter made it past second base, but they hardly needed to with Early dealing. Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman combined to make the eighth and ninth innings seamless, securing the win.