When Rafael Devers stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded, it felt like now or never. The game was still scoreless in the top of the eighth and the Red Sox hadn’t come close to threatening the Tampa Bay Rays all game.
This was their chance, and when Devers struck out to end the threat it felt like only a matter of time before the Rays made them pay.
It didn’t take long.
Brandon Lowe’s solo home run off Chris Martin in the bottom of the eighth was the difference as the Tampa Bay Rays dropped the Red Sox 1-0 to stay unbeaten on the season. Boston managed only three hits on the night in a game that took just 2:06 to complete.
“Overall it was a good baseball game,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “They pitched well, we pitched well, it was good defense, obviously we didn’t win the game, but as far as the game, it was great.”
Coming in the Rays (10-0) had walloped their opponents, averaging 8.3 runs through their first nine games, but up until the eighth inning the Red Sox (5-5) pitching staff did an excellent job keeping them in check.
Nick Pivetta was terrific once again, throwing five scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and six strikeouts. His fastball velocity was also up, averaging 95 mph on the day, and he also drew 14 whiffs, including on all four of cutters Rays batters swung at. He now has an 0.90 ERA on the season through two starts.
Pivetta did face trouble in the bottom of the third, at one point allowing two men on with one out, but Rob Refsnyder bailed him out by making an incredible sliding catch in deep center field. Then he popped up and got the throw back in quickly enough to keep the runners from advancing.
Josh Winckowski followed him with two scoreless innings of relief, bringing him to a 1.00 ERA through his first five appearances, and Martin drew a pop out before Lowe won a 10-pitch battle culminating with a 404-foot bomb to right on a 3-2 fastball down the middle.
Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay pitching staff looked as good as advertised. Former Red Sox arm Jalen Beeks got the Rays off on the right foot, throwing two shutout innings as the opener, and then Josh Fleming posted four scoreless with five strikeouts out of the pen.
Garrett Cleavinger, Colin Poche and Pete Fairbanks combined to complete the shutout, though not before Poche had to work his way out of a huge eighth inning jam.
After Alex Verdugo drew a leadoff walk, Bobby Dalbec pinch hit for Triston Casas and singled to put two men on with one out. Connor Wong immediately flew out to left, but Kiké Hernández, who came into the plate appearance 0 for his last 22, drew a walk to load the bases for Devers.
Devers whiffed on a huge cut the first pitch, fouled off a pair and then struck out looking on a well-placed fastball above his knees. He finished 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, all looking.
Outside of the eighth the Red Sox offense looked all out of sorts. The club went down on 10-13 pitches in seven out of nine innings, which Cora said was a product of them expanding the zone.
“We expanded with them, and that’s what they do, they’ve got good stuff, we have to give them credit,” Cora said. “They made some pitches, especially Fleming, he was around the corners, pitching to the edges, we expanded with him and I don’t think we did much against him. Just credit to them, we’ve got to get better for tomorrow.”
The night did bring one piece of good news, however, as Cora confirmed outfielder Adam Duvall will not need surgery on his fractured left wrist.
Boston will look to get back on track Tuesday as Garrett Whitlock makes his regular season debut. He’ll face Rays ace Shane McClanahan (2-0, 1.50 ERA) at 6:40 p.m.
With the 10-year anniversary of the 2013 Boston Marathon approaching, the Red Sox have announced plans to commemorate the tragic event with a weekend of special events and pregame ceremonies during the club’s series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Friday the club will distribute more than 40,000 blue and yellow Red Sox City Connect hats to Boston Public School students and staff. Saturday will feature a pregame ceremony commemorating One Boston Day and the 76th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. Sunday the 2013 World Series championship team will be recognized pregame and Zac Brown Band will perform the National Anthem, and Monday David Ortiz will serve as Grand Marshal for the Boston Marathon, leading runners from Hopkinton to Boston.
The Red Sox will also wear their yellow City Connect uniforms on Friday and Sunday, their home whites with the No. 42 on Saturday in recognition of Jackie Robinson Day, and they will wear their “Boston” home whites on Monday, as they did on the first home game after the bombings and every Marathon Monday since.