Through 2 innings, Rays starter Ryan Pepiot has thrown 31 pitches. The Red Sox have struck out 5 times and swung-and-missed 10 times.

One day removed from his homer to RF, Casas rips a double off the fence in left-center -- an indication that his swing has now been successfully recalibrated.

Pepiot's immaculate inning in the 5th was the 4th in Rays franchise history.

Meanwhile, Houck is out after four innings. Cora had alluded to the possibility he might be on a pitch count before the game. Houck threw 60 pitches, allowing one run on four hits.

After the Sox had swung-and-missed at 13 Pepiot fastballs through 5 innings, Trevor Story ambushed one (a get-me-over 93 mph pitch) to open the sixth, drilling a solo homer into the LF bleachers. It's 1-1.

Pepiot has a career-high 13 strikeouts. Three straight strikeouts for the Sox in the sixth following the Story homer to lead off the inning. Pepiot's Ks by inning: 1: 2 2: 3 3: 1 4: 1 5: 3 6: 3

Yoshida just swung and missed at a pitch that hit him in the foot. Not sure if there's an official count but feels like the Sox are closing in on a one-month record for that combination of events in September.

Connor Wong punches a single just over the infield and into shallow right -- the first hit of the series for a Sox hitter in the top five spots in the order. They'd been 0-for-33 with 16 strikeouts in the last two games.

Casas just crushed a Drew Rasmussen offering down the line in left -- and Christopher Morel made a tremendous catch against the wall to rob him of a two-run double and end the 7th. Casas gave Morel a pat as he returned to the dugout in acknowledgement of the superb play.

The Sox have matched a season-high with 15 strikeouts. It's the seventh inning.

Justin Slaten continues to show nasty stuff since coming off the injured list -- including his best fastball velocity of the year. Andrew Bailey: "He can be a potential All-Star closer." More in the notebook: bostonglobe.com/2024/09/18/spo…

Red Sox take the lead in the eighth, as Story collects an infield single, steals second and third, and scores when Jarren Duran shoots a single to right through a drawn-in infield. Sox lead, 2-1.

Chris Martin just struck out Junior Caminero on three pitches. Martin hasn't walked a batter since April.

Martin closes out a scoreless eighth by inducing a 3-6-3 GIDP, with Casas both making a strong, quick throw to Story and then hustling back to the bag to pick Story's return throw, which had been wide of first. 12 of the 24 outs recorded by the Sox have been on grounders.

With two outs in the ninth, Kenley Jansen issues a four-pitch walk (the first of the game for the Sox), and appeared to grab at his shoulder after the fourth ball. Trainer visit.

Jansen remains in the game.

Kenley Jansen bent but did not break (though he might be broken?), stranding runners on second and third with a strikeout of Ben Rortvedt to close out the 2-1 win -- the first one-run win for the Sox since August 20.

Postgame updates: Cora said Bello is starting Thursday and Fitts “most likely” on Friday. Kenley Jansen has been working through shoulder discomfort. Could Cora have imagined wrestling the ball from him one out from a save? “No.”