Red Sox rock Rays: Ranking the 3 players who shined vs Tampa Bay

Following a very disappointing 0-3 start, the Boston Red Sox assured they won’t go winless throughout the season with a very upbeat 11-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night at Fenway Park.

While the victory won’t change the doom and gloom surrounding the team after a three-game sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles, a solid pitching performance and the bats waking up could be the start of a ray of hope for a team with low expectations.

Led by J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts at the plate, the Red Sox offense game starter Nick Pivetta the run support they didn’t give Nathan Eovaldi or Tanner Houck in their two solid outings to start the season.

Boston Red Sox put it all together in first win of 2021 MLB season

In a game the Red Sox absolutely needed for both fan support and team morale, Pivetta was stellar against the Rays lineup with five shutout innings.

With defense, offense and pitching all letting the team down the first three games, Red Sox manager Alex Cora was obviously thrilled about the overall team effort and had to feel the pressure ease a little after the team secured their first win of the season.

"“Pressure?  To be honest with you, there’s no pressure,” Cora said following the game, via MLB.com.  “This is a game, and we’re playing baseball in the middle of a pandemic.  Of course, we have a job to do, and we have our goals, but whoever feels pressure should think about that because there’s more [to life].  And I understand where you’re coming from but at the same time…you just play a game to entertain people and in the middle of a pandemic.  You’re blessed.”"

While we do see where Cora is coming from, c’mon…this is Boston and in Boston fans are spoiled with their teams competing as they did for at least one game on a Monday night at Fenway.

Here are three players who really shined against the Rays.