Blake Snell became the majors' fourth 16-game winner and the Tampa Bay Rays became the first team this season to sweep a three-game series from the Boston Red Sox with a 9-1 trouncing Sunday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Matt Duffy scored twice, had three hits and drove in two runs, spearheading a 12-hit attack that propelled the Rays to their second eight-game winning streak of the season.

Tampa Bay also won eight straight in April. Boston saw its American League East lead over the Yankees slip to six games after New York completed a four-game sweep at Baltimore.

The Rays jumped on former teammate Nathan Eovaldi for two runs in the first inning and never looked back. Ji-Man Choi had an RBI single and Jake Bauers a sacrifice fly to account for the early scoring.

Duffy, who singled and scored in the first, duplicated the feat in the third inning when the Rays added three runs, including two on a two-out triple by Kevin Kiermaier that made it 5-0.

Duffy drove in runs with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and a double in the sixth, before Michael Perez capped the Tampa Bay scoring in the seventh with a two-run double.

Eovaldi (5-6) was pulled after four innings, having allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits. He struck out five and did not walk a batter.

Snell (16-5) limited the Red Sox to one run on two hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out eight.

Diego Castillo worked a hitless seventh and Andrew Kittredge finished up with two shutout innings, helping the Rays limit an eighth consecutive opponent to three runs or fewer.

Tampa Bay has allowed a total of just 12 runs during its winning streak.

Boston's lone run came in the sixth on a walk to Sandy Leon, a double by Jackie Bradley Jr. and a sacrifice fly by Mookie Betts.

Choi, Joey Wendle and Tommy Pham had two hits each for the Rays, who won for an eighth time in 19 games in the now-completed season series against the Red Sox.

Bradley's double was the only extra-base hit among a total of three hits for the Red Sox, who lost for the sixth time in their past eight games.

--Field Level Media