ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Charity may begin at home, but it works just as well on the road.
If their opponents insist on giving away games, the Red Sox will gladly accept, home or away.
A day after ending a homestand with a victory gift-wrapped by five unearned runs from the Orioles, the Red Sox edged the Tampa Bay Rays, 1-0, before a crowd of 14,307 in Tropicana Field.
The only run in the game was unearned, second baseman Ryan Brett charged with an error when Mookie Betts’ hard takeout slide caused Brett to throw wildly to first on what would have been an inning-ending double play by Dustin Pedroia.
Ryan Hanigan, who had singled off the glove of Rays pitcher Chris Archer and advanced to second when Betts drew a walk, scored on the play, which came in the third inning.
The unearned run was the 19th this season for the Sox, who lead the majors in that category. By contrast, the Sox have allowed their opponents just three unearned runs in the season’s first 14 games.
Tough debut: Rays second baseman Brett was making his first big-league start. He beat out an infield roller for a hit in his first at-bat in the third, but was picked off by Sox left-hander Wade Miley and partially dislocated his left shoulder diving into the bag.
The Rays already have 10 players on the DL, tying a club record, and have nine rookies on the 25-man roster, most before Sept. 1 in club history.
1-0 a Sox rarity: The Sox won only two games last season by a 1-0 score, and they came six days apart. Brandon Workman held the Orioles to one hit in 6 2/3 innings in a 1-0 win over the Orioles on June 10, and Rubby De La Rosa held the Twins to one hit in seven innings in a 1-0 win at Fenway Park on June 16.
Miley mastery: Miley, charged with seven runs in just 2 1/3 innings in his last start against the Nationals, held the Rays to three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked four, two in the sixth when he was replaced by Alexi Ogando with two out and the bases loaded. Ogando induced Desmond Jennings to ground into an inning-ending force.
Bullpen dominance: Relievers Ogando, Robbie Ross Jr., Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara held the Rays to one hit in 3 1/3 innings.
The hit was a leadoff single by Logan Forsythe to open the ninth, but Uehara got struggling Rays slugger Evan Longoria to hit into a double play started by Pablo Sandoval, and Jennings ended it with a checked-swing groundout to Sandoval.
Appealing atmosphere: The Sox played their first game while David Ortiz is appealing his one-game suspension handed down by MLB Monday. MLB ruled that Ortiz bumped umpire John Tumpane during his fifth-inning ejection Sunday.
