The Red Sox losing streak reached four straight as they were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays, 9-4, dropping them further back in the wild card race.
Andrew Cashner was knocked around for seven runs in 5.2 innings, issuing five walks including one to with the bases loaded to force in a run.
All four of the Red Sox runs were scored via homers. Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run blast in the first to briefly give the Red Sox the lead, and added a solo belt in the fifth, giving him a career (and team) high 25. Mookie Betts hit a solo shot in the seventh.
WHO: Red Sox (59-50) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (62-48)
WHEN: 7:10
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: Tampa 2-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: TB 8-6
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Andrew Cashner (10-5, 4.18) vs. LHP Brendan McKay (1-1, 3.72)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:07 Heath Hembree: nine runs allowed in last seven appearances. First pitch hammered into the RF seats by Austin Meadows.
9:11 It's gotten ugly in a hurry here in the sixth. Darwinzon Hernandez, working in his third straight game, is not sharp tonight. Two wild pitches, a walk and a run-scoring double to the first two hitters.
9:02 Michael Chavis has generally played a decent second base, but he has real difficulty turning the double play. Costs the Sox a run there on a ball hit hard enough to short to get two, but the turn took too long.
8:56 Betts has had some difficulty in RF tonight, getting turned around on some balls over his head. On a ball hit by Eric Sogard that appeared catchable, balls goes over Betts' outstretched glove and off the bullpen wall for a double.
8:47 Fifth career multi-homer for Bogaerts, third this season for Bogaerts, who keeps adding to his career high in homers -- 25 now.
8:33 In the last week, while they've continued to score runs, Red Sox have reverted to problems they experienced earlier in the season with RISP. Another example there: first-and-third, no out, and they failed to score.
7:51 Passed ball scores one run and a booming double to CF scores another, although a nice relay from Andrew Benintendi to Michael Chavis to Sandy Leon cuts down a run at the plate.
7:49 Cashner's wildness costing him, as he walks his third batter in the span of five hitters, forcing in a run - although, to be fair, the first pitch to Ji-Man Choi was clearly a strike and was called a ball.
7:25 A fastball on the inner half to Xander Bogaerts, who re-takes the team lead in homers (24) by going over the Monster Seats, scoring Mookie Betts ahead of him. That's the 100th run of the season for Betts.
7:14 Andrew Cashner fielded a squibber by Matt Duffy in front of the plate that probably would have been for Sandy Leon to handle. The two collided and by the time Cashner made the throw to first, it was too late (after a replay challenge, that is) and the Rays get a run.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Benintendi CF
Travis LF
Moreland 1B
Chavis 2B
Leon C
RAYS
Choi 1B
Pham LF
Meadows RF
Duffy RF
Kiermaier CF
Aguilar DH
Sogard 2B
Zunino C
Adames SS
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have dropped their last three...They're just 1-7 against Tampa Bay at Fenway this season...In the season series between the clubs, the visiting teams are 12-2....The Rays lead the series two games to none. The Red Sox have been swept just once in their last 85 series of three or more games -- that was by the Rays, last August....The Sox are 15-5 in their last 20 getaway games. They're also 18-10 in their last 28 series finales...The Sox have homered in 16 straight home games, the longest stretch at Fenway since they homered in 17 straight in 1967...Over the last nine games, Andrew Benintendi is 18-for-40 (.450) with 12 RBI, 10 runs scored and four homers....J.D. Martinez has reached safely in his last nine games and is hitting .410 (16-for-39) in that span...Rafael Devers has an 11-game hitting streak, the third time this season that he's put together streaks of 10 or more games....Mookie Betts' next run scored will be his 100th...He's currently on a pace to score 147 runs...He would become the eighth Red Sox player to score 100 or more runs in four consecutive seasons. The others: Wade Boggs (seven times); Johnny Pesky (five times); Jimmie Foxx (five), Ted Williams (two streaks of four); Dom DiMaggio (four); Nomar Garciaparra (four) and Johnny Damon (four)….Xander Bogaerts has a six-game hitting streak, going 11-for-30....Michael Chavis leads all A.L. rookies in RBI (56), hits (83), multi-hit games (27) and runs (45) while tying for the most homers (17)...Sam Travis has a four-game hitting streak, tying his career high...Andrew Cashner is a win shy of tying his career high of 11, which he set with Texas in 2017....He's thrown six or more innings in seven of his last eight starts...
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Catcher Christian Vazquez, who took a foul ball off the kneecap in the eighth inning Wednesday night, is out of the lineup as a precaution.