Game 57: Tampa Bay Rays Bats Go Silent in 4-0 Loss to Red Sox

On the same afternoon that Wil Myers was placed on the DL, the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Boston Red Sox 4-0. The Rays now head back to the Sunshine State off the heels of the weekend sweep.

The real inning of doom was the bottom of the fourth, when the Red Sox put three runs on the board. The first run came when Jonathan Herrera flew out to Sean Rodriguez, but was able to bring home Jonny Gomes, who lead the inning off with a single. Then, the big blow came off the bat of Brock Holt, when he had one of his four doubles, which brought Alex Hassan and Jackie Bradley Jr. home.

Boston tacked on their fourth and final run in the seventh inning, after Juan Carlos Oviedo replaced Brad Boxberger, and a 1-2 fastball was driven, once again, to Rodriguez in left field by newly called up Garin Cecchini for his first big-league RBI, when Holt came home to score.

Red Sox starter Jon Lester simply proved to be too much for the Rays offense, as he went seven complete innings, allowed just four hits and struck out 12 Tampa Bay batters, including Jerry Sands (3), Rodriguez (2) and Logan Forsythe (3) multiple times. As a matter of fact, only two of the 10 Rays who batted today didn’t go down on strikes – James Loney and Yunel Escobar (who was a late defensive substitution).

Another area for concern for the Rays today was the aforementioned play of Rodriguez in left field. Now, there could have been any number of factors, including the sun being right in his eyes, but nevertheless, he simply didn’t seem confident in the position today. I guess everyone is bound to have an “off,” day in a 162 game schedule.

Aside from a three run inning, Rays starter Erik Bedard didn’t pitch poorly – going 4.2 innings, allowing five hits and striking out four. He let a lot of guys on, but did a good job of working around them and leaving them stranded. Unfortunately, Bedard just couldn’t match what Lester did, nor did he get any help from his offense.

The Rays, currently on an 0-6 road trip, will look to regain their winning ways back in their home state, as it’s Citrus Series time! The first two games will be played in Marlins Park tomorrow and Tuesday, while the Trop will play host to the final two games on Wednesday and Thursday. Tomorrow, the Rays will pit Alex Cobb (1-2, 2.93 ERA) against Randy Wolf (0-1, 4.50 ERA) in a 7:10 first pitch.