All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 5-2 loss to the Rays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Sale continues to go forward: It didn't look good for Chris Sale three batters into the game. He allowed a long leadoff double and two batters later, surrendered a two-run homer, putting the Sox in a 2-0 hole. In the next inning, the Rays added two more, though those were unearned. After that, Sale tossed five shutout innings. On the one hand, it marked the sixth straight start in which Sale got the nod and the Red Sox lost. But on the other, he did manage to pitch through the seventh and finished strong, retiring the last seven and 10 of the last 11 batters. He allowed only two hits after the first inning. "I guess that's the one and only positive out of this,'' said Sale of getting through seven. "But I still have to put my team in a better position early on. I'm still building and I feel like a broken record saying this over and over, but at the end of the day, I need to be better.'' Alex Cora noted Sale's velocity wasn't great -- he was mostly 92-93 with his fastball -- but that didn't seem to bother him. He also made a mechanical adjustment after the first two innings that allowed him to turn his outing around.
Devers' error a big factor: The Sox were already down 2-0 in the second. Sale walked Gil Heredia, but then got Willy Adames to hit a grounder right at Rafael Devers at third. It appeared to be the perfect double-play ball, but Devers bobbled the ball and instead of the Sox being out of the inning, the Rays had runners at first and second with one out. Two batters later, Yandy Diaz doubled to center, scoring two unearned runs. For Devers, it was his eighth error of the season in 28 games. "I was his age and I made a good amount of errors,'' said Xander Bogaerts, "So I kind of know what he's going through. When you're going like that, whenever you make an error, those runs seem to score, so that makes you feel even worse. When I see him hang his head, all I can say is 'Keep your head up and try to catch the next one.' But he's down. I know how bad that is.''
Pearce lost at the plate: The season is more than a month old and Steve Pearce has four hits. Four. And only one of them is for extra bases. He's got a slash line of .103/.167/.128 with one RBI, or, the same as David Price. On Sunday, he was 0-for-4 with a double play and a strikeout. He's hitless (0-for-10) on the homestand. And yet, because of the unavailability of J.D. Martinez, he was in the lineup for the second straight day. "Right now, he's searching,'' conceded Cora. "You see him in the batter's box, in the cage, in the dugout — he's looking for something to click. Sometimes, he's out in front on breaking balls and behind on fastballs, caught in between. Timmy (Hyers) and Andy (Barkett) will keep looking for answers and help him out to the point where he contributes offensively.''
TURNING POINT
Trailing 4-0, the Sox had runners at second and third and just one out in the sixth, finally showing signs of life, and with the heart of the batting order due, appeared ready for a big inning. Instead, they got just one run (from a sacrifice fly) and missed a big chance to put runs on the board.
ONE UP
Michael Chavis: Chavis continues to mash the ball, collecting a single and a homer -- his third in a little more than a week.
TWO DOWN
Xander Bogaerts: With a rare off-day at the plate, the shortstop was 0-for-4 and didn't get the ball out of the infield.
Heath Hembree: Brought in to keep the score where it was in the ninth, Hembree allowed a leadoff double and a run.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I just think we've got to continue to get better -- real quick.'' Xander Bogaerts.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Mookie Betts picked up a walk and leads the Sox with 17 of them.
- Christian Vazquez extended his hitting streak to four games.
- The 111 pitches by Chris Sale represented a single-game high for Red Sox pitchers this season.
- The Sox still have won only one series this year.