The game began inauspiciously for Moore. He got ahead of Mike Aviles 0-2 before missing his spots to make the count 3-2 and allowing a single. After striking out Dustin Pedroia on 6 pitches, he allowed a single to David Ortiz. Then he hit Adrian Gonzalez with his fastball and suddenly the bases were loaded. Moore followed with a strikeout of Will Middlebrooks, but then after an 8-pitch plate appearance, Moore walked Cody Ross to force in a run to hand the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. Moore struck out Daniel Nava to end the frame and actually struck out the side. But he allowed a run and threw 33 pitches.

In the second, Moore got ahead of Marlon Byrd 1-2 but then allowed the count to go full again and leaving a fastball mid-out, and Byrd drilled a solo homer, his first as a member of the Red Sox, to give Boston a 2-0 lead. Moore escaped further damage in the inning but his pitch count was at 49. Moore seemed to get into a groove in the third inning, but after striking out the first two batters in the inning, Moore left a changeup, the third consecutive changeup he threw to Ross, up in the zone and Ross drilled a solo homer just left of dead centerfield to extend the Red Sox lead to 3-0.

Moore composed himself to have a good outing, and although it was too little too late this time around, things are looking up for him moving forward. (Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

In the bottom of the third, the Rays finally scratched across a run against Red Sox starter Felix Doubront on a catcher’s interference that allowed B.J. Upton to reach, an HBP by Luke Scott, and a Jeff Keppinger RBI single to pull within 3-1. Moore followed with a 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts, and the Rays got him another run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sean Rodriguez singled and moved to second on a groundout with 2 outs to bring Rich Thompson to the plate. Thompson made his MLB debut in 2004 but had just one plate appearance, grounding into a double play, before being sent down to the minor league until the Rays acquired him this season. In his second major league at-bat, Thompson struck out. But in his third, he singled home Rodriguez to pull the Rays within 3-2. Thompson would steal second base, and after Ben Zobrist walked, the Rays executed a successful double steal ahead of a B.J. Upton walk. Luke Scott then hit a bullet towards right field. But it landed in Adrian Gonzalez’s glove to end the inning.

Moore got another 1-2-3 inning in the 5th, getting a strikeout and two groundouts as he threw just 12 pitches. He then finished his outing in the 6th, forcing two routine flyouts along with a groundout. Moore’s final numbers were not bad at all. He went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, striking out 8 while walking just 1. He did allow the two home runs as his groundout to flyout ratio was just 5-5. But something suddenly clicked for Moore and it should be just the start.

The Red Sox pulled away in the 8th, getting a baserunner each against Burke Badenhop and J.P. Howell before a well-placed Cody Ross groundball against Wade Davis turned into a 2-run single to give the Red Sox a 5-2 lead. The Rays managed to get 1st and 3rd with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, prompting Bobby Valentine to bring in closer Alfredo Aceves, and B.J. Upton blooped a single to make it a 5-3 game. But Luke Scott grounded out to end the threat and Aceves got 3 groundouts in the 9th as the Red Sox won 5-3. Doubront (4-1) was the winner in the game, allowing 2 runs, 1 earned, on 6 hits in 5.2 innings, striking out 7 while walking 4. Moore (1-4) took the loss, but there are more positives to take away from this game for him than negatives. Aceves earned his 8th save for Boston. It’s unfortunate for the Rays that Moore finally figured it out in the 4th inning of this game, but the Rays left 12 men on base in this game, actually going 3 for 9 with runners in scoring position but stranding multiple runners in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 8th innings, not what you want at all. The Rays settle for a split in this short two-game series as they fall to 24-15 on the season, one game back of the Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Rays get a dose of Interleague this weekend as they take on the Atlanta Braves in a 3-game set at the Trop. The Braves will enter with a 24-15 record, identical to the Braves. It should be fun, and hopefully the Rays can come out ahead.

Matt Moore did not have any command. His fastball looked as good as ever in terms of velocity, averaging 94.6 MPH according to Brooks Baseball, but he continually missed over the heart of the plate and the Red Sox hitters took advantage. Moore had a solid changeup on the day, but his fastball’s struggles were amplified by the fact that he could not consistently get a feel on his breaking ball. Moore gutted it out, lasting 6.1 innings and 109 pitches despite allowing 6 runs, and he saved the Rays bullpen in the process. Even though Moore could not consistently get hitters out, it has to mean something that he showed the quality usually exhibited only by aces and veterans to survive without his best stuff and when needed, take one for the team. Moore struck out 5 while walking 4, 2 of which were intentional, and allowing 2 home runs. He had a tough day out there on the mound. Moore began the second inning with a radiant smile that could be seen well into the seats, but that smile was quickly wiped off his face. However, there are definitely positives to be taken from this start for Moore, and hopefully we will soon see the start where Moore has his arsenal at its best and can dominate opposing hitters. Moore is a rookie. We have to expect growing pains this season. But every start, even today, we see the beaming potential.

Going 4 for 13 with runners in scoring position simply won’t cut it. The Rays got a 2-run double by Carlos Pena, an RBI double by Evan Longoria, and a solo home run from Luke Scott, but that is all they could manage despite a barrage of hits and baserunners. The Rays stranded a runner in every inning but the 2nd and the 9th and left five runners in scoring position. There’s a certain amount of luck involved in that and we know the Rays can be better than that, but there were a couple of critical misplays. In the 4th inning, Jeff Keppinger led off the inning with a double, and two batters later, Sean Rodriguez hit a grounder to deep short that Mike Aviles was able to glove but could not throw Rodriguez out. But for some reason, Keppinger rounded third and headed for home, and Aviles was able to throw him out easily for the 3rd out. Either Keppinger himself or third base coach Tom Foley either thought the ball went past Aviles or incorrectly assessed the situation, and hopefully that won’t happen again too often.

In the 6th inning Luke Scott hit a game-tying home run off of Red Sox starter Felix Doubront to knot the game at 4, but it appeared like the Rays were far from done. Scott Atchison replaced Doubront and after allowing a bad-hop single to Sean Rodriguez, he walked Matt Joyce, missing on four straight pitches to give the Rays’ 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Chris Gimenez stepped up to the plate and quickly got ahead 2-0 as Atchison could not find the zone. It was seemingly an opportune time to bunt as a successful sacrifice would give the Rays the chance to take a 2-run lead with a base hit, but with Atchison missed the zone so often, it would have made sense for the Rays to take the bunt sign off. The next pitch was a slider out of the zone, but Gimenez failed to pull his bat back, making the count 2-1. Then he fouled a bunt off to pull the count even at 2-2. But the Rays persisted with their bunt signs, and Gimenez pulled another bunt foul and it wasn’t even close to strike out. That completely changed the inning and the Rays would fail to score a run.

The Rays had a frustrating game out there today. The offense got hit after hit, but not with runners in scoring position. Matt Moore had nice velocity but no command. And the result was a 6-4 loss when the Rays actually looked better than the Red Sox on Sunday. The Rays look to salvage a game of this four game set on Monday beginning at 11:05, with James Shields taking on Daniel Bard. The season is just beginning, but the Rays need Shields to live up to his “Big Game James” nickname and start a turnaround.