A return to the friendly confines of Fenway Park did little to alleviate the Red Sox’ woes — as a familiar script played out once again en route to a frustrating 8-4 loss to the Rays on Tuesday night.
Despite taking a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning off of a three-run shot from Hunter Renfroe, a fatal combination of runners left on base, a sieve of a bullpen and multiple other blunders compounded to doom the Sox — as Tampa Bay reeled off seven straight runs to complete the comeback and plunge Boston further down in the standings.
With the loss, the Red Sox have now lost 11 out of their last 14 games — and slip to five games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East.
WHO: Red Sox (65-49) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (68-44)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 4-5
SERIES TO DATE: TB 2-1
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (8-6, 5.33) vs. RHP Luis Patino (2-3, 4.42)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez 2B
Duran CF
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Martinez LF
Plawecki DH
Renfroe RF
Vazquez C
Cordero 1B
RAYS
Arozarena RF
Cruz DH
Franco SS
Diaz 3B
Meadows LF
Luplow 1B
Margot CF
Lowe 2B
Zunino C
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
TOP 9th: When it rains, it pours. ... 8-4 Rays.
BOT 8th: Plawecki singles, but Martinez, Renfroe and Vazquez all strike out.
TOP 8th: Tampa threatens with the bases loaded — but Taylor gets out of the jam by getting Wendle to ground out. Still, Boston's bullpen is walking a tightrope.
BOT 7th: Another squandered chance - as Devers flies out to CF with runners on 1st and 3rd.
TOP 7th: Whitlock sure picked a rough time to come back down to earth. He surrenders three hits (including a two-run double to Ji-man Choi) and we have a tied game.
BOT 6th: A 1-2-3 inning for Patino. Whitlock in to pitch for Boston in the seventh.
TOP 6th: After Boston failed to extend their lead - Tampa answers back by scoring a run and chasing Rodriguez from the game with one out in the sixth. Sawamura comes in with runners on 1st and 2nd for Tampa — but gets out of the jam.
BOT 5th: You hope an inning like that doesn't haunt the Red Sox — who had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, and didn't score. Bogaerts with a shallow fly out to LF, and then Martinez flies out with the bases loaded.
TOP 5th: Another 1-2-3 inning for E-Rod, who has retired 9 straight after that Lowe homer. He's at 67 pitches through five innings.
BOT 4th: Boston has struggled with RISP during this skid, but not there. With two on, Renfroe drills a Patino pitch into left-center for a 3-run shot. 4-1 Red Sox. Let's see how Rodriguez responds with some breathing room.
Renfroe BOMB pic.twitter.com/wK2dCn9oW7
— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) August 11, 2021
TOP 4th: After surrendering that homer to Lowe in the 3rd, Rodriguez settles back down in the fourth with a 1-2-3 inning. He's up to six strikeouts through four innings.
BOT 3rd: Nothing doing here — with both Cordero and Duran going down on strikes.
TOP 3rd: Annnnnnd we're all tied up. Brandon Lowe hits a moonshot off of Rodriguez' first pitch to him and this game is tied, 1-1.
BOT 2nd: Devers takes Patino's first pitch and promptly deposits it in the Rays bullpen. Sox take a 1-0 lead off of Devers' 28th home run of the season. Boston threatens again after Renfroe doubles to LF with 2 out, but Vazquez pops out to end the inning.
Raffy with a 114 MPH rocket. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/ayud5RaaEG
— MLB (@MLB) August 10, 2021
TOP 2nd: Rodriguez makes quick work of the Rays — striking out Luplow & Margot to close out the inning. Rodriguez has thrown 29 pitches — 22 of them for strikes.
BOT 1st: Duran gets on base with a single up the middle, but Bogaerts grounds into a double play to end the first.
TOP 1st: Arozarena smacks Rodriguez's first pitch into CF, but E-Rod bounces back and retires the next three batters in order.
NOTES:
The Red Sox, who have lost 10 of their last 13 games, will be looking for a rebound in what should be a key three-game showdown against the first-place Rays. Boston now trails Tampa Bay by four games in the AL East.
After winning their first four games of the 2021 season against the Rays (3-0 at Fenway Park), Boston has dropped five straight to Tampa. In total, the Sox are 14-24 against the Rays since the start of 2019.
In each of the last 10 meetings between the Sox and Rays at Fenway Park, the two teams have combined to score at least 10 runs (11, 13, 13, 15, 10, 14, 25, 13, 11, 11).
Eduardo Rodriguez is looking to string together another encouraging start on Tuesday after tossing five scoreless innings and striking out 10 Detroit batters during his last start on Wednesday against the Tigers. In total, Rodriguez has thrown 5.0+ scoreless innings in three of his last six starts.
Boston is 9-2 in Rodriguez’ last 11 starts, and 59-19 since the start of 2018. However, against Tampa Bay, Rodriguez is 1-3 with a 5.33 ERA in 10 career starts.
With bench coach Will Venable and first base coach Tom Goodwin are still in Canada due to COVID-19 protocols, Boston has added Darren Fenster and Andy Fox to their big-league coaching staff for the time being.
Alex Verdugo — who is currently on paternity leave — is expected to fly back to Boston on Wednesday, per Alex Cora. No word yet on when he is expected to slot back into the lineup.
Hirokazu Sawamura, removed from Sunday’s loss to Toronto due to elbow tightness, is feeling better, according to Cora. He will be available to pitch tonight.
Despite suffering an apparent setback in his eventual return to the big leagues last week, Kyle Schwarber could be getting closer to a rehab assignment. Cora put forth an encouraging update on Tuesday — noting that Schwarber went through a full workout with the team on Tuesday and should follow a similar routine on Wednesday.