All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 9-1 loss to the Rays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Eovaldi stumbles again: In his first two starts after being acquired by the Red Sox, Nathan Eovaldi tossed 15 straight scoreless innings and it appeared as though the Sox had gotten a steal in their trade with the Rays. But the last four outings haven't been anywhere near as good for Eovaldi. On Sunday, he allowed the first three hitters he faced to reach, with two of them coming around to score. In the third, the Rays continued to pound him, scoring three more runs. They added a sixth run in the fourth, after which Eovaldi was finished for the afternoon. The Sox wanted Eovaldi to go back to using his four-seam fastball more -- with less emphasis on the cutter -- and Eovaldi accomplished that. But while his pitch mix was better and played more to his strengths, his location wasn't good at times and the Rays took full advantage. In his four innings, Eovaldi had only one in which he retired the Rays hitters in order. In his last four starts, he's compiled a 7.41 ERA while allowing more than two hits per inning.
Offense bottoms out: The Red Sox still lead the majors in more significant offensive categories -- from runs scored to OPS, to slugging percentage to extra-base hits -- but you wouldn't have known that from watching them in this series. They managed just five runs in the three games -- including just two in their last 22 innings -- and on Sunday, were limited to just three hits. For the three games, the Sox produced just three extra-base hits (all of them doubles) and failed to hit a homer. They sent three hitters to the plate in six different innings, unable to generate any offensive momentum. Only three times on Sunday did the Sox get the leadoff man on in an inning and only once did that runner advance beyond second.
Resting regulars part of Cora plan: Manager Alex Cora opened himself up for criticism by sitting J.D. Martinez -- one of the few Red Sox regulars who had hit much of late -- and Andrew Benintendi in the series finale at a time when the Sox are scuffling offensively. But two things to consider: 1) Cora was merely being consistent here. He was criticized for his lineup in Oakland back in April after the Red Sox were no-hit the night before. But Cora believes there's a benefit to giving regulars two days off (the Sox have an off-day Monday) and wasn't about the change plans just because the Sox dropped another game Saturday. It's hard to take issue with his practice, since, the recent losing streak notwithstanding, he's made a lot of right calls getting the Red Sox this far. 2) Given how the game went, it's doubtful that having Benintendi and Martinez in the lineup would have made much difference. As punchless as the lineup has been of late, it's the starting pitching that has let the Red Sox down in the past week.
TURNING POINT
The Red Sox knew they couldn't afford to give up many runs, facing their nemesis Blake Snell. It was bad enough that they trailed 2-0 in the first inning. But when Kevin Kiermaier smoked his second triple in as many days in the third inning, scoring two baserunners, the Rays were off to a 5-0 head start and that was far too big a hill for the Sox to climb.
TWO UP
Craig Kimbrel: The Red Sox closer hadn't pitched in eight days, so he got some work in in the eighth inning and looked sharp, striking out the side.
Eduardo Nunez: The infielder continues to wield a hot bat, collecting one of the three Red Sox hits. He also drove a ball to the deepest part of the ballpark (left-center) in the first inning, just missing a homer.
ONE DOWN
Mitch Moreland: A long afternoon for the first baseman, who committed a rare error (just his second of the season) that led directly to a run, while going 0-for-3 at the plate.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"It was a bad weekend here in Tampa -- that's it. Day off (Monday) and we'll go get 'em on Tuesday.''
โ Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The sweep was the first of the season suffered by the Red Sox.
- After the Red Sox won the 11 of the first 15 meetings between the two teams, the Rays stormed back to win the last four.
- The defeat was only the 12th in series finales this year for the Sox.
- Boston lost a day game for only the seventh time this year, against 30 wins. They had been 14-1 in their last 15.