Rays blow early lead to lose third straight: Rays 2, Red Sox 5

The Rays are back at .500.

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

The Tampa Bay Rays faced off against the Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field in a thrilling game that gave Rays fans one inning to be excited about early before gradually building up to disappointment in the eighth.

The Red Sox’s first inning was uneventful, with Jarren Duran grounding out, followed by Wilyer Abreu striking out swinging, and Tyler O’Neill popping out to shortstop Amed Rosario. The Rays, however, took immediate advantage in the bottom half of the inning.

Josh Lowe ignited the Rays’ offense with a sharp line drive single to center field. Randy Arozarena then doubled to left field, advancing Lowe to third. With runners in scoring position and no outs, the Rays had a prime opportunity to take an early lead. Brandon Lowe grounded out sharply to the shortstop, keeping the runners in place, but Isaac Paredes stepped up next and did what he does best. Paredes delivered a clutch single on a line drive pulled to left, scoring both Josh Lowe and Arozarena, The Rays’ explosive start had given them a solid 2-0 lead and put the pressure on the Red Sox. For the moment, it felt like the losing streak would come to an end but only the first inning did.

Rafael Devers hit a leadoff single to open the top of the second inning and advanced to second on a Reese McGuire walk. That setup a Vaughn Grisson RBI single scoring Devers and trimming the Rays lead to 2-1.

The game remained scoreless until the top of the sixth inning. Duran launched a 427-foot solo home run to center field to leadoff the inning, leveling the score at 2-2.

Cooper Criswell bounced back from a shaky first inning. After allowing four hits and two runs to open the game, he finished pitching 5.1 innings allowing six hits, two earned runs and striking out six Rays hitters. He really settled in and found his groove.

Zack Littell’s 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K, and 1 HR on 77 pitches was very similar to Criswell in a game that was tied as they both were pulled. A solid start that should have been enough for a win just came short in this game.

The eighth inning proved to be the turning point of the game. For the Red Sox, Ceddanne Rafaela led off with a single and quickly stole second base, putting himself in scoring position with no outs. Jarren Duran then walked, setting the stage for Wilyer Abreu, who singled to center field, bringing Rafaela home and giving the Red Sox a 3-2 lead. The inning’s intensity didn’t stop there.

With two outs, the Rays intentionally walked Devers giving Boston runners on the corners. With Romy Gonzales at the plate the Red Sox set a trap for the Rays that worked in their favor. Devers and Duran started the double steal and Rays’ catcher Ben Rortvedt makes the throw to Lowe at second. Lowe didn’t look like he had time to focus on Devers who stopped just short of the base as he attempted to catch Duran at the plate. The throw was just off, and the Red Sox took a 4-2 lead.

The ninth inning saw the Red Sox extend their lead with Reese McGuire’s solo home run.

Although Isaac Paredes doubled in the bottom of the ninth, the Rays’ hopes of a comeback were extinguished by a flyout, a groundout, and a pop out, sealing their fate.

Missed opportunities resulted in the Rays extending their losing streak to three games. The Rays will try to stop the streak and get back in the win column as these teams close the series out at 6:50pm Wednesday.