ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Long after it can do them any good, the Red Sox are, belatedly, having themselves a pretty good road trip.
The Sox rode a two-run homer from Jacoby Ellsbury, a two-run pinch-hit single by Mauro Gomez and a fine start from Aaron Cook to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-2, for their third win in the first four games of their current road swing.
Boston was hitless until the sixth, when, with Jose Iglesias (hit batsman) on third, Jacoby Ellsbury smacked his fourth homer of the year, breaking up Alex Cobb's no-hit bid and shutout all at once.
An inning later, Gomez hit for Scott Podsednik and drilled a single down the left field line, scoring James Loney and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Cook limited the Rays to a single run over six innings and picked up his first win since Aug. 6 and just his second since June 29. Rich Hill and Junichi Tazawa both contributed scoreless innings out of the bullpen before the Rays reached Mark Melancon for a run in the ninth.
The loss was Tampa Bay's sixth in their last seven games and dropped them further back in the chase for the second American League wild card.