ST. PETERSBURG http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-zach-davies-jersey , Fla. (AP) — and that was more than enough against baseball’s best team.The All-Star lefty pitched two-hit ball over six innings and the Tampa Bay Rays won their eighth straight game Sunday, beating Boston 9-1 to hand the major league-leading Red Sox their first sweep of the season.“There was a lot of energy today,” Boston manager Alex Cora said, “but the guy on the mound sucked it up.”Snell (16-5) allowed one run and struck out eight. He has given up no more than one earned run in 14 consecutive starts at home, and he has a 1.08 ERA in four outings against the Red Sox this year.“I almost have to tell myself to wake up over there. He’s so good I feel like I don’t even have to do much,” Rays third baseman Matt Duffy said. “I’m just kind of chillin’ over there. I’ve got a really good seat for the game. When he pitches I go, ‘OK, wake up, the ball might come your way — if they make contact with it.'”Boston (90-42) has lost six of eight and was outscored 24-5 in the three-game set.Duffy had three hits and drove in two runs for the surprising Rays, who completed their first undefeated homestand of more than one series. They won all seven games against the Royals and Red Sox, and are nine games above .500 (70-61) for the first time since June 2015.“For us to do it against Kansas City and then Boston, the best team in the league right now, to be able to do that to them says a lot about our team Brent Suter Jersey ,” Snell said. “I’m excited to be in this clubhouse with these guys.”Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi, acquired from the Rays in a July 25 trade, gave up hits to the first three batters he faced and fell behind 2-0.Kevin Kiermaier’s two-run triple was the fourth hit off Eovaldi in a three-run third that left Tampa Bay with a 5-0 lead.“They’re a very streaky team,” Eovaldi said. “They’ve had their ups and downs. Right now they’re swinging the bats as well as anybody. The pitching has been pretty good all year.”Eovaldi (5-6) dropped to 2-2 with Boston. He gave up six runs — five earned — and eight hits in four innings while striking out five. In his last four starts, the right-hander has allowed 35 hits in 17 innings.TWO-DAY BREAKCora said he never reconsidered his plan to give slugger J.D. Martinez the day off before Monday’s scheduled open date. “We haven’t done two days off with him the whole season,” Cora said. “With him it’s about the mechanics — he’s always afraid that he’s going lose it. But I think at this stage, two days will benefit him.”TRAINER’S ROOMRed Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (right ankle sprain) will attempt to pitch six innings in a rehab start Monday. … RHP Steven Wright (left knee inflammation) will throw to catcher Christian Vazquez (broken finger) at Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday.Rays: Manager Kevin Cash said OF Mallex Smith (viral infection) is “doing considerably better” and was expected to be released from the hospital Sunday. Cash has no timetable but didn’t rule out Smith, who was hospitalized Friday, from playing again early next month.UP NEXTRed Sox: RHP Brian Johnson will pitch Tuesday night in the first of two home games against the Miami Marlins.Rays: After their first day off in two weeks, the Rays open a two-game series in Atlanta on Tuesday night. Ryne Stanek will start. NEW YORK — The end of the final week of the season will be nostalgic and bittersweet for the New York Mets. The beginning will serve to remind the Mets of a past they’d thought was buried, and how far they have to go to catch a familiar foe.David Wright’s final homestand as a major leaguer is scheduled to begin Tuesday night, when the Mets activate their former All-Star third baseman prior to the opener of a three-game series against the National League East champion Atlanta Braves at Citi Field.The Mets’ Noah Syndergaard (12-4, 3.36 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Braves rookie Touki Toussaint (2-1 Boone Logan Jersey , 4.30 ERA) in a battle of right-handers.Article continues below ...Both teams were off Monday after earning wins Sunday, when the Braves completed a four-game sweep of the visiting Philadelphia Phillies with a 2-1 victory and the Mets beat the host Washington Nationals, 8-6.The Mets (73-83) took three of four from the Nationals and have gone 41-35 since July 1 to ensure a respectable finish to a season that spiraled out of control during a 5-21 June. But New York will be looking much further back over the final six-game homestand, when Wright will be on the active roster for the first time since May 2016.Wright, who was on a Hall of Fame track before his career was derailed by back, neck and shoulder injuries, is expected to be available as a pinch-hitter before making a final start against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night.“I wouldn’t mind getting him in there and getting him a pinch-hit at-bat when it makes sense in the Braves series,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters Sunday.While Wright, whose contract runs through 2020, is not expected to officially retire, the 35-year-old said during an emotional press conference Sept. 13 that it’s too painful for him to continue playing baseball.If this is it for Wright, he will end his career with the Mets in the same position they were when he made his debut in 2004 — chasing the Braves (88-68), who clinched their first NL East title since 2013 with a 5-3 win over the Phillies on Saturday.The Braves http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-josh-hader-jersey , of course, set an American professional sports record by winning 14 straight division titles from 1991 through 2005. The Mets finished second or third in the NL East seven times from 1995, Atlanta’s first full season in the NL East, through 2005.The Braves, who lost at least 90 games in each of the previous three seasons, appeared to be at least a year away from contending, but a mix of elite prospects such as Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies and reliable veterans such as NL Most Valuable Player candidates Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis vaulted Atlanta back into the playoffs.Now the Braves are focused on tuning up for the playoffs while trying to secure the highest seed possible and homefield advantage in the playoffs. Atlanta entered Monday 3 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs for the top spot in the NL and one game ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the second seed.“We’re going to do the best we can to get (a higher seed) within the scope of giving a guy or two a day off next week,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters Sunday.Syndergaard took the loss in his most recent start last Wednesday, when he allowed three runs over four innings as the Mets fell to the Phillies, 4-0. Toussaint earned the win in his fourth career start last Wednesday after surrendering two runs over 5 1/3 innings in the Braves’ 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.Syndergaard is 0-2 with a 4.13 ERA in six career starts against the Braves. Toussaint has never faced the Mets.