The Tampa Bay Rays couldn’t hold on to a 3-1 lead in regulation or leads of 4-3 and 5-4 in extra innings, dropping their third straight game and falling under .500 with a 6-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox in 12 innings Tuesday at Fenway Park.
Going into the bottom of the twelfth leading by a run, Ryan Thompson (0-1) got the first two outs on a groundout by Kike Hernandez and a lineout by Christian Arroyo, and was ahead of Alex Verdugo 0-2 when he hit the Boston center fielder with a fastball on the hip. He then uncorked a wild pitch allowing both Verdugo and Hunter Renfroe, who started the inning at second base, to move up, and J.D. Martinez then lifted a pitch over the head of Randy Arozarena in right to bring in both runners and end the game.
Boston initially got on the board in the bottom of the first inning against Rays starter Tyler Glasnow, as Arroyo started the frame with a double, moving to third on a groundout by Martinez and scoring on a wild pitch.
The Rays took the lead in the top of the third, as a walk by Yandy Diaz sandwiched between base hits by Mike Zunino and Arozarena loaded the bases, and Manuel Margot brought in a pair with a single two batters later.
Joey Wendle added to the lead in the sixth, as his base hit off Austin Brice scored Brandon Lowe, who started the inning by drawing a walk off Red Sox starter Martin Perez.
Glasnow ended up allowing just the one run in six innings of work, giving up four hits and walking a pair while striking out nine.
The Red Sox got back to within a run in the eighth, as Verdugo and Martinez hit back-to-back doubles off reliever Pete Fairbanks, and Christian Vazquez homered off Diego Castillo in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.
The teams kept each other off the board in the tenth, but each scored in the eleventh, with Willy Adames plating Lowe with a double and Rafael Devers countering with a base hit that brought in Xander Bogaerts.
A groundout by Arozarena gave the Rays a 5-4 lead, but it would not be enough for the team to end their current losing streak.
Ryan Yarbrough (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will look to salvage the finale of the series at Fenway Park, taking on Nathan Eovaldi (0-1, 1.69 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
