Red Sox held to four hits by Rays in another feeble offensive showing
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — What little success the Red Sox have enjoyed this season has come on the road. Now, even that is starting to dry up.
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The Sox were held to four hits by six Tampa Bay pitchers in a 3-1 loss on Monday night.
At 27-37, the last-place Sox are again at a season-worst 10 games under .500. They have lost three of their last four games.
The Sox advanced only two runners as far as third base all game. Beyond Marcelo Mayer’s home run in the third inning, their only hits were singles by Ceddanne Rafaela (sixth inning), Mickey Gasper (seventh inning), and Wilyer Abreu (ninth inning).
Abreu represented the tying run, but Willson Contreras struck out swinging and Gasper grounded to second as Bryan Baker picked up his 17th save.
“We didn’t hit much, obviously,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “We took some scattered good at-bats during the game, but just didn’t create a lot of opportunities for ourselves.”
The Sox have scored two runs in their last two games, going 10 of 62 (.161) at the plate with three extra-base hits and 16 strikeouts.
They had averaged 5.8 runs over the six games prior to that, which now looks more like an anomaly than a trend.
The Sox have scored two or fewer runs 27 times, their worst such mark after 64 games since 1927. They are averaging 3.9 runs, fewest in the American League.
Connelly Early (5-4) and four relievers held the Rays to seven hits, six of them singles. But three runs were too much to overcome with a lineup that lacks both power and any sort of offensive identity.
“We needed some more hits and some more opportunities,” Tracy said.
It was the first game for the Sox at Tropicana Field since Sept. 19, 2024. The roof of the domed ballpark was shredded by Hurricane Milton only a few weeks later.
The Rays played their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa last season while the Trop was being repaired. The park now has a much brighter roof, a new turf field, renovated clubhouses, and other improvements.
But some things didn’t change, like the barrage of sound effects and many empty seats. The game drew only 14,579.
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Early didn’t enjoy his introduction to the Trop. His first pitch was a high fastball that Yandy Díaz hit 390 feet to left field for his 12th home run.
Early’s last pitch was also costly. That came in the fifth inning.
Austin Slater, playing his first game for the Rays after being released by the Mets, led off with a single and stole second. With two outs and Slater at third, Jonathan Aranda singled to left field to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.
Early was fortunate to give up just the two runs as he allowed five hits, walked four, and hit a batter over 4⅔ innings. The lefthander struck out six but only threw 54 of his 96 pitches for strikes.
“Too many walks,” Early said. “Taken out before I get out through the fifth. So leave a lot of the game for the bullpen to clean up.”
The Rays intended to use lefthander Ian Seymour as an opener. But he pitched a season-high four innings and allowed just the one hit on Mayer’s home run.
It was Mayer’s third of the season, and the second in only 14 at-bats against a lefthander.
Five relievers followed Seymour. The best opportunity for the Sox came in the seventh inning when Contreras was hit by a pitch from Kevin Kelly, and Gasper singled.
But Caleb Durbin struck out looking. The two-strike pitch was a changeup in the middle of the strike zone that was called a ball by umpire Alan Porter, who had a rough night.
Catcher Nick Fortes challenged the call, and it was overturned.
A wild pitch moved the runners up. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a slow grounder to the left side that third baseman Junior Caminero snapped up on the run ahead of a strong throw to first.
The Rays, who are battling the Yankees for the best record in the league, had lost 10 of 13. But the Sox lineup helped fix that.
“That’s a good baseball game,” said Sox catcher Carlos Narvaez, who was 0 for 3. “We just didn’t hit how we’ve been hitting lately.”
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