BRAD PEACOCK

Randy Arozarena, rookie Wander Franco and the Tampa Bay Rays won their ninth straight game, breaking away from Boston soon after Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts was pulled because of a positive COVID-19 test.

Red Sox Rays Baseball Boston Red Sox's Xander Bogaerts watches his RBI single off Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Boston's J.D. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) (Chris O'Meara)ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — (AP) — Boston Red Sox star shortstop Xander Bogaerts was pulled from Tuesday night's game at Tampa Bay after testing positive for COVID-19, the latest virus setback for the team. Before the game, the club announced that reliever Hirokazu Sawamura had tested positive for the virus. They remain in Cleveland, where the Red Sox were playing when both tested positive. The Red Sox purchased the contract of LHP Stephen Gonsalves from Triple-A Worcester.

Boston Red Sox star shortstop Xander Bogaerts has tested positive for COVID-19 and been pulled from a game at Tampa Bay.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)SAN DIEGO – The Houston Astros spent this odyssey of a season as baseball's biggest villains. When Aledmys Diaz flied out with a runner on first to end Game 7 of the AL Championship Series, the bad guys finally lost. “The legacy of this group is that these guys are ballplayers, and these guys are men," said Baker, who took over the team in January. This was just a bunch of guys coming together and wanting to play damn good baseball and wanting to go to another World Series. Houston's lineup of veteran hitters simply kept slugging, and the Astros fought to the brink of the World Series.

One out later, Adell lined a two-run single to right off Enoli Paredes (1-2) for his first game-ending hit. Kyle Tucker homered and drove in three runs for the Astros, who lost in walk-off fashion for the second straight game. With two outs and runners on second and third, Martin Maldonado hit a two-run single to right-center. After Yuli Gurriel's two-run single in the third, Tucker extended the lead to 4-1 with a run-scoring infield single. It is the seventh game to start with triple-digit temperatures since the ballpark opened in 1966.