In easily the most frustrating loss of the season, the Red Sox were beaten by the Tampa Bay Rays, 1-0, when a bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out swing-and-miss wild pitch got far enough from the plate, allowing Manuel Margot to score the game's only run from third base.
The Rays had just two hits all night, but the a two-out single in the ninth by Margot, coupled with a stolen base, a throwing error by Christian Vazquez and the wild pitch accounted for the winning run.
Nick Pivetta had a no-hitter after 6.2 innings, but was lifted at 100 pitches.
The win lifted the Rays into first place by a half-game over the Sox in the A.L. East.
WHO: Red Sox (44-30) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (44-31)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Tropicana Field
SERIES TO DATE: 1-1
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 4-1
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nick Pivetta (6-3, 4.36) vs. RHP Michael Wacha (1-2, 5.19)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Chavis 2B
Verdugo LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Renfore RF
Vazquez C
Hernandez CF
Dalbec 1B
RAYS
Lowe 2B
Franco SS
Arozarena RF
Meadows LF
Diaz 1B
Choi DH
Wendle 3B
Mejia C
Kiermaier CF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: Adam Ottavino wiggles out of a second-and-third, two-out jam, getting Randy Arozarena to pop-up in foul ground. Impressive work for Ottavino, who thrives in those big spots.
B8: There goes the combined no-hitter bid as Kiemaier slices a double the other way off the end of the bat against Darwinzon Hernandez. Rays now have the potential go-ahead run in scoring position.
B7: Tough call for Alex Cora, but he lifts Pivetta with no hits allowed, but at 100 pitches, and seven outs from the finish line. It's Josh Taylor, with a 21-game scoreless streak in place, on.
T7: Vazquez caught halfway between second and third, and can't get back to second safely. Brutal way to make the final out of the inning.
T7: Renfroe tries to score from second on a line single to center by Vazquez, but is tagged out. A moment of hesitation as he hit third proved costly. Game still scoreless in the seventh.
B5: Hunter Renfroe makes a fabulous leaping catch on the warning track to rob Ji-Man Choi of extra bases.
T5: Red Sox collect their first hit as Christian Vazquez golfs a pitch in an inch out of the dirt into shallow center. Then, Vazquez catches the Rays sleeping and swipes second standing up and moves to third as the throw goes into the outfield. But he's stranded there as Bobby Dalbec fans for the third out.
B4: The number of foolish baserunning mistakes in this series could fill a book. Nate Lowe commits the latest -- failing to re-touch second base on his way back to first on a flyout to right, and getting doubled up on his way. Haven't seen that one in a while.
T4: It's a pitchers' night at the Trop. No hits for either team as we had to the bottom of the fourth, with both Pivettta and Wacha executing their game plans to perfection. Not even a hard-hit ball -- lots of infield popups and routine flyouts sandwiched around the inevitable piling up of strikeouts.
B1: As good as Wacha was in his first, Nick Pivetta was better -- flashing 99 mph with his fastball and dropping some nasty curveballs to keep the Rays off-balance.
T1: An impressive first inning for Michael Wacha, who works around a one-out walk to Alex Verdugo and racks up three strikeouts. Quite a contrast from his last outing in Seattle.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have lost two-of-three, but are 12-7 in their last 19....A loss tonight would give the Red Sox consecutive road series losses for the first time this season...The Red Sox had won 5 consecutive games against the Rays prior to last night, including the clubs’ first four games this season...Since August 2017, the Sox are 6-2-2 in their last 10 series at Tropicana Field (19-14 in games).....he Sox are an MLB-best 24-13 (.649) on the road, having won eightof their last 11 road games.....The Sox lead the AL with 1.02 HR/9.0 IP. Sox starters have thrown five or more innings 57 times, the fourth most in the majors...The Sox are 37-20 (.649) when their starter lasts five or more innings and 7-10 in all other games....Adam Ottavino reaches 10 years of MLB service time today...After posting a 9.82 ERA in his first five appearances this season, he's since pitched to a 1.78 ERA in his last 27 appearances...Josh Taylor has made 21 consecutive scoreless appearances, the longest active streak in MLB and the longest streak by an A.L .pitcher in 2021...The franchise record is 27 straight scoreless outings by Koji Uehara in 2013.....Nick Pivetta leads Sox starters in opponent AVG (.231) and strikeouts (86) and ranks second in SO/9.0 IP (10.41) and WHIP (1.35)....He ranks seventh among AL pitchers in SO/9.0 IP.....He's 0-3 with a 5.66 ERA over his last four starts after going 6-0 with a 3.86 ERA over his first 10 starts this season. The Sox have lost three of his last four starts after winning nine of his first 10 this season and 11 of his first 12 starts since joining the club. Each of his last 10 runs allowed have scored via home runs....J.D. Martinez has a 12-game hitting streak, the longest active MLB streak and the longest by a Red Sox in 2021...It is his fifth career hit streak of 12+ games, trailing only 14-game streaks in 2014 and 2016....Kike Hernandez has a five-game streak and each of his last four hits has gone for extra bases (3 2B, 1 HR). He's reached base in nine of his last 17 PA...Bobby Dalbec is 0-for-10 after going 13-for-32 (.406) with three HR. Has 26 RBI in his last 34 games.....Hernandez is 4-for-12 with a homer against Michael Wacha while Bogaerts is 2-for-5 in his career.....
NEWS:
* The Red Sox placed infielder Christian Arroyo on the IL, retroactive to Monday, with a contusion below his right knee. On Wednesday, Alex Cora said he didn't believe the injury would require an IL stay, but Arroyo has been unable to put much weight on the leg just to play catch. Cora would have been OK with waiting if he thought Arroyo would be ready for the start of the homestand, the Sox couldn't continue playing a man short. "We need bodies,'' said Cora. To take Arroyo's spot on the roster, the Red Sox recalled Michael Chavis from Worcester.
* Chavis was hitting .263 with an .801 OPS at Worcester. In his last 10 games, he was hitting .368 with six homers and 15 RBI and an OPS of 1.291. This is his fourth stint with the big league club this season. Cora said Chavis has been making better swing decisions of late at Triple A. "Obviously, he still has to get better,'' said Cora. "The most important thing is plate discipline -- he hasn't walked too much. It's hard to survive at this level (without cutting down strikeouts and adding walks). It seems like he's in rhythm now.''
* There was some confusion late in Wednesday's game when the umpiring crew inspected Tampa Bay reliever Diego Castillo in the ninth inning and found some discoloration on his cap. But rather than eject Castillo, the umps instructed Castillo to get another cap. "We're still looking for clarification,'' said Cora. "Hopefully, they can (provide) it later on today.''
* Danny Santana is slumping badly with a 5-for-54 rut. "He hasn't been able to catch up with the fastball,'' said Cora. "At this level, regardless of usage, you still have to catch up with (those). It seems mechanically, he's trying to get out there and get it and that makes you vulnerable to off-speed pitches. We believe in him. He was really, really good two years ago. He came up up and right away, hit those two home runs (in Philadelphia) and we got very excited about him. We've got to keep working with him. Hopefully, he doesn't get too down on himself.''