Odorizzi began his dominance in the top of the first inning by getting Xander Bogaerts to fly out to right. Dustin Pedroia walked but Andrew Benintendi lined out to right. Mookie Betts lined out to center to end the inning. Eduardo Rodriguez (5-6, 4.15 ERA) took the mound in the bottom of the first and the Sox puked on themselves. Kevin Kiermaier singled off of Brock Holt at second and Peter Bourjos hit a routine double play ball to Rafael Devers, who tried to kick the ball to second rather than throw it. Both men were safe on the error and Evan Longoria struck a base hit to Jackie Bradley Jr who turned and fired it straight into the bleachers for another error, scoring Kiermaier. Rodriguez showed some guts by striking out Lucas Duda and Adeiny Hechavarria. Trevor Plouffe popped up to first to end the inning but it was 1-0 Rays.
The Sox did nothing to help in the top of the second inning. Mitch Moreland, Christian Vazquez and Rafael Devers all whiffed to end the inning. Rodriguez matched Odorizzi in the bottom of the second by striking out Brad Miller to start. Jesus Sucre grounded out to second but Cesar Puello singled to right. Kiermaier lined out to center to end the inning.
Brock Holt struck out to begin the top of the third inning and Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to center. Bogaerts grounded out to Odorizzi to end the inning. Rodriguez hung tough in the bottom of the third when Bourjos flied out to left, Longoria lined out to right and Duda watched strike three go by to end the inning.
The awful offense got struck another blow when Pedroia hit a comebacker to the mound to start the top of the fourth. Benintendi whiffed but Betts collided with Duda on a ground out to first. Betts hobbled into right field to start the bottom of the fourth but he wasn't right. Hechavarri grounded out to third, Plouffe flied out to left and Miller looked at strike three to end the inning.
Betts had to be hauled off on a gurney and left the game with a bad thumb injury as Moreland grounded out to second to begin the top of the fifth inning. Vazquez lined out to center and Devers lined out to right. The Sox were being no-hit through 5 innings. Meanwhile the Rays struck again in the bottom of the fifth. Sucre and Puello smacked back to back singles but Kiermaier struck out. Bourjos walked to load the bases and Sucre scored on the bobble of Longoria's hit by Bogaerts. Rodriguez got Duda to pop up and Hechavarria to strike out but it was 2-0 Rays.
Suddenly the Sox sprang to life briefly in the top of the sixth inning. Holt walked and JBJ blasted a no-doubt home run into right. The Sox went from no-hit and playing bad defense to a tie game on just one swing of the bat. The Sox couldn't maintain the momentum as Bogaerts flied out to right, Pedroia flied out to center and Benintendi whiffed to end the inning but it was 2-2.
The tie lasted about 26 seconds although Plouffe lined out to first to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Miller grounded out but Sucre blasted a solo home run to give the Rays the lead. All of a sudden Sox manager John Farrell woke up from his slumber, realized Rodriguez was still on the mound and staggered out to take the ball from him. Rodriguez battled but was in for one batter too long, going 5 2/3 while giving up 3 runs. Austin Maddox came in and Puello singled but Kiermaier flied out to right to end the inning with the Rays up 3-2
Sergio Romo came in and struck out Davis to start the top of the seventh inning. Moreland grounded out to second and Vazquez whiffed to end the inning. All of a sudden David Price, who hadn't been seen since July materialized out of nowhere in a Red Sox uniform. Sox manager John Farrell was ready to bring Maddox back but he told Austin to hit the showers. Bourjos lashed the first pitch Price threw deep out to center but JBJ ran it down. Price blew away Longoria and Duda grounded out to first to end the inning.
Steven Souza Jr took over for Puello for defensive purposes in the top of the eighth inning with Tommy Hunter now on the mound. Devers popped up to third and Holt lined out to center but JBJ beat out an infield single to short. Bogaerts lined out to right to end the inning. Price returned for the bottom of the eighth and struck out Hechavarria to start. Plouffe popped up to second and Miller grounded out to third to end the inning. Welcome back Price.
Alex Colome took the mound to close out the game in the top of the ninth but Pedroia popped up to third. Benintendi singled to center to put the tying run on....but Davis banged into a double play to end the game. The Rays had won it 3-2.
Jackass of the night is a tough one since 8 of the 9 hitters were utterly useless and Rodriguez didn't pitch that bad. I'll go with Xander Bogaerts. He's the leadoff hitter and he went 0 for 4 with a strikeout, also leaving JBJ in one of their only threats to tie the game.
The Good:
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 3 with a 2 run home run.
Austin Maddox got the final out of the sixth inning.
David Price pitched 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 2.
Rajai Davis was 0 for 2 with a strikeout and a double play.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Eduardo Rodriguez took the loss but didn't pitch that bad. He went 5 2/3 innings and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk although he struck out 7
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4.
Brock Holt was 0 for 2 but walked and scored.
Final Thoughts:
This was a huge loss considering the New York Yankees lost today as well. A win over the lowly Rays would have put the Sox up 4 games with 13 to play. The lack of offense is killing them at the worst time of the year. I know Mookie Betts got hurt but the team had 3 hits....THREE hits. The worst part is who's up next. The Baltimore Orioles and Buck Showalter in particular are chomping at the bit to face the Red Sox after getting blown away by the Yankees this weekend. The loss dropped the Sox to 85-64, 3 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox start a 3 game set with the Orioles in Baltimore. They send out their best pitcher Dylan "King Kong" Bundy while the Sox counter with Doug Fister (5-8, 4.40 ERA) looking to bounce back from his last start. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Oriole Park in Camden Yards.
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