Final, Rays 9-2: Mark Lowe scattered a couple of hits before closing the door in the ninth inning. The Red Sox now have lost seven of their last nine spring training contests.
Felix Doubront was roughed up in Sunday’s 9-2 loss to the Rays. The left-hander gave up eight earned runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out six and walked two.
Brandon Workman was solid in relief of Doubront, surrendering just one run on three hits over 3 2/3 innings. But the damage had been done, as the Red Sox’s bats were silenced for much of the afternoon. It took the Red Sox until the seventh inning to produce their first hit.
The Red Sox will be back in action Monday. The Red Sox will travel to Sarasota to face the Baltimore Orioles in a game scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
Mid 9th, Rays 9-2:Â Burke Badenhop walked a tightrope in the ninth inning.
Badenhop issued three walks but kept the Rays off the scoreboard. Taylor Motter, Mayo Acosta and Brandon Guyer all worked walks before Badenhop struck out Jonathan Quinonez to end the inning.
It was a long inning for the right-hander, who has been up and down this spring.
End 8th, Rays 9-2: Mark Lowe worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning for the Rays.
Shane Victorino and Jonathan Herrera flied out to left field and right field, respectively.
Jackie Bradley Jr. then pinch hit for David Ortiz and struck out swinging.
Mid 8th, Rays 9-2: Cameron Seitzer put Tampa Bay’s lead back at seven runs with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
Jayson Nix led off with a double high off the left field wall. Nix moved up to third base on a groundout and scored on Seitzer’s sacrifice fly.
Mark Lowe will take over for Tampa in the bottom of the eighth.
End 7th, Rays 8-2: Xander Bogaerts gave the Red Sox their first hit with one out in the seventh inning.
Bogaerts followed Jonny Gomes’ one-out walk with a line-drive single into left field. Corey Brown, who pinch ran for Gomes, scored one batter later when Will Middlebrooks single into center.
David Ross loaded the bases with Boston’s third single of the inning, but Grady Sizemore grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Mid 7th, Rays 8-1: A couple of guys reached against Brandon Workman in the seventh inning, but the 25-year-old escaped without any blemishes in the runs column.
Wil Myers led off with a single into right field, and Matt Joyce hit a bleeder past the mound that resulted in a two-out, infield single.
Workman struck out Brandon Guyer to avoid any damage.
End 6th, Rays 8-1:Â The Red Sox still are looking for their first hit of the contest.
Brandon Gomes worked his second straight perfect inning in the sixth. David Ortiz struck out swinging to end the inning.
Ortiz, who is 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in this game, is now 2-for-35 this spring.
Mid 6th, Rays 8-1: Brandon Workman’s first full inning went smoothly.
Workman, who recorded the final two outs of the fifth inning after replacing Felix Doubront, enjoyed a 1-2-3 sixth.
Workman, who pitched important innings for Boston last season, has been stretched out this spring but could be an option to crack the major league roster out of camp if Craig Breslow isn’t ready.
End 5th, Rays 8-1: The Red Sox still are without a hit.
Brandon Gomes replaced Matt Moore in the fifth inning. Moore was struck in the face by a line drive in the fourth inning.
Gomes took care of Will Middlebrooks, David Ross and Grady Sizemore. Middlebrooks flied out, Ross grounded out and Sizemore struck out swinging.
Mid 5th, Rays 8-1: The Rays sent Felix Doubront to the showers in the fifth inning.
Desmond Jennings plated David DeJesus with an RBI double off the JetBlue Park Green Monster. (Jennings also knocked in Tampa Bay’s first run of the game way back in the first inning.)
Sean Rodriguez followed with a walk to put runners at first and second for Matt Joyce. Joyce opened the game wide open with a three-run homer down the right field line.
Joyce’s three-run blast ended Doubront’s afternoon. Manager John Farrell called upon Brandon Workman, who retired Ryan Hanigan and Jayson Nix to end the inning.
End 4th, Rays 4-1: Matt Moore rebounded in the fourth inning after a very shaky third inning.
Moore retired Mike Napoli, Jonny Gomes and Xander Bogaerts in order.
The fourth inning wasn’t without some pain, though. Bogaerts hit a comebacker that struck Moore in the mouth. Moore seemingly deflected the ball before it hit him in the face, but the left-hander still walked off the field bleeding at the end of the fourth inning.
Amazingly, Moore sprung up after being knocked over by Bogaerts’ comebacker and recorded the third out at first base.
Mid 4th, Rays 4-1: Felix Doubront has six strikeouts through four innings.
Doubront surrendered a one-out double in the fourth inning. He now has given up seven hits to go with Tampa Bay’s four runs.
Doubront bounced back to strike out Ray Olmedo and Logan Forsythe in the fourth.
End 3rd, Rays 4-1: Matt Moore was all over the place in the third inning.
Moore issued four walks and threw a wild pitch in the third as the Red Sox grabbed their first run of the afternoon.
Will Middlebrooks, David Ross, Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia each walked in the third inning. Pedroia’s walk resulted in Boston’s first run.
Moore minimized the damage by striking out David Ortiz, who now is 2-for-34 this spring.
Mid 3rd, Rays 4-0: It looked like the third inning would bring more of the same for Felix Doubront. A double play changed the complexion of the inning, though.
Doubront, who got knocked around in the first two innings, walked Desmond Jennings to begin the third. Jennings drove in Tampa Bay’s first run with a first-inning single into right field.
Doubront quickly settled things down by inducing a 5-4-3 double play. The lefty ended the inning by striking out Matt Joyce, giving Doubront four strikeouts thus far.
End 2nd, Rays 4-0: Matt Moore has retired the first six batters he has faced.
David Ortiz and Mike Napoli flied out to begin the bottom of the second inning. Ortiz is now 2-for-33 this spring, although he got a good piece of Moore’s offering and sent right fielder Wil Myers back toward the warning track.
Jonny Gomes popped out to second baseman Jayson Nix to end the inning.
Mid 2nd, Rays 4-0:Â Felix Doubront stumbled through more two-out trouble in the second inning as the Rays grabbed three runs to open a 4-0 lead.
Ryan Hanigan, who singled with one out, advanced to second base on a two-out balk. The ball simply slipped out of Doubront’s hand during his delivery, ending up near the third base line.
Ray Olmedo knocked in Hanigan with a single into left field. Olmedo moved up a station when Logan Forsythe added a single.
Olmedo and Forsythe each advanced into scoring position on a well-executed double steal. Catcher David Ross fired down to second base, but shortstop Xander Bogaerts had to slide just to stop Ross’ throw from traveling into center field.
David DeJesus gave the Rays a 4-0 lead with a two-run single into left field.
End 1st, Rays 1-0: Matt Moore cruised through the first inning.
Grady Sizemore, Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia went down against the Rays lefty, who did a nice job of pounding the strike zone.
Sizemore struck out looking, Victorino popped out and Pedroia grounded out.
Mid 1st, Rays 1-0: The Rays didn’t waste any time in jumping on Felix Doubront.
Doubront recorded two quick outs, but Wil Myers made life difficult by lining a double into right-center field. Myers dived head-first into second base to secure the two-bagger.
Desmond Jennings then gave the Rays a 1-0 lead by shooting a single into right field. Myers easily scored from second base.
Doubront picked up a couple of strikeouts in the first inning. Logan Forsythe went down swinging to begin the game, and Sean Rodriguez went down looking to end the inning.
1:09 p.m.: Felix Doubront tosses a first-pitch strike. The action is underway at JetBlue Park.
12:30 p.m.: Left-hander Craig Breslow is expected to pitch in a minor league game Monday.
Breslow faced live hitters for the first time Saturday. It’s possible he might not be ready for Opening Day despite his recent insistence that he will indeed be ready come March 31.
The Red Sox will have Breslow pitch in a minor league game Monday rather than a major league game because it would allow Boston to place the lefty on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22 — if it so chooses.
Jake Peavy also is expected to pitch in Monday’s minor league game rather than face the Baltimore Orioles, whom the Red Sox open up the season against. (No free scouting reports here.)
12:20 p.m.: The Red Sox announced several roster moves Sunday.
Pitchers Rich Hill, Dalier Hinojosa and John Ely have been reassigned to minor league camp. Catcher Dan Butler has been optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket. Pitcher Jose Mijares has been released.
The Red Sox now have 35 players at major league camp (30 on the 40-man roster, and five non-roster invitees).
12:10 p.m.: The Red Sox’s lineup is packed with regulars. Check out Sunday’s lineup cards below.
Boston Red Sox
Grady Sizemore, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Jonny Gomes, LF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Will Midlebrooks, 3B
David Ross, C
Felix Doubront, LHP
Tampa Bay Rays
Logan Forsythe, 3B
David DeJesus, DH
Wil Myers, RF
Desmond Jennings, CF
Sean Rodriguez, 1B
Matt Joyce, LF
Ryan Hanigan, C
Jayson Nix, 2B
Ray Olmedo, SS
Matt Moore, LHP
11:30 a.m. ET: The Boston Red Sox have lost six of their last eight spring training games. They’ll look to rebound against the Tampa Bay Rays in Fort Myers on Sunday.
Felix Doubront, who is scheduled to take the hill for Boston, also will be looking to rebound. Doubront was lit up by the New York Yankees in his last start on Tuesday.
Doubront, who gave up seven runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Yankees, had enjoyed a very encouraging spring to that point. The 26-year-old lefty showed up to camp in great shape, and the Red Sox are hoping that he can take the next step and become more consistent in 2014 after a rollercoaster 2013 season.
Sunday’s action is scheduled to kick off at 1:05 p.m. Be sure to tune in on NESN, and keep it right here with NESN.com’s live blog. I mean, it’s a no-brainer, really.
