BOSTON — Thursday was not Boston’s day.
While the Bruins dropped the first game of their second-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden, the Red Sox were busy losing two games to the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox suffered a pair of one-run defeats in Thursday’s doubleheader, moving them to three games below .500 at 13-16. By comparison, the Red Sox did not endure a single losing month in 2013.
The Sox would be wise to put Thursday’s twin bill in the rearview mirror. But first, let’s go over what happened during a long day at the yard.
— The Red Sox suffered a 2-1 defeat in Game 1.
Jake Peavy was dealt his first loss of 2014 despite allowing just two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander struggled with his command at times — issuing five walks and walking in a run — but it’s hard to complain too much about the effort he provided.
Peavy now has walked at least four batters in four of his six starts this season. The veteran let the fourth inning get away from him a bit Thursday, and the Sox never recovered.
“The timeliness of the walks — to bunch them together. That’s where it comes back to haunt us a little bit,” manager John Farrell said.
— The biggest moment of Game 1 came in the seventh inning.
Dustin Pedroia was thrown out at the plate while trying to score from first base on David Ortiz’s one-out double. The Red Sox challenged the play, but the call was upheld because the umpires determined there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the ruling on the field.
The whole situation didn’t sit well with the Red Sox. Third base coach Brian Butterfield was ejected for arguing, and Farrell, Pedroia and Peavy were all surprised by the call when discussing the play after the game.
Peavy was the most outspoken of the bunch, as he called for changes to the MLB replay system if things continue down the current path.
— Cesar Ramos didn’t earn the victory for Tampa Bay in Game 1 because he didn’t make it out of the fifth inning. Ramos issued six walks and threw 95 pitches despite allowing just one run on one hit over 4 2/3 innings.
— Chris Capuano ran his scoreless streak to 15 innings over 12 appearances.
— The Red Sox dropped Game 2 by a final score of 6-5.
Boston blew a three-run lead. Felix Doubront exited after surrendering four runs over six innings, and Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara failed to nail down a one-run advantage.
Tazawa gave up a game-tying double to Sean Rodriguez in the eighth inning, and Uehara surrendered a go-ahead homer to Yunel Escobar in the ninth inning.
— Uehara, who recently battled a shoulder issue, said after Thursday’s doubleheader that he’s fine physically and that he simply left a pitch up to Escobar.
Still, it’s crazy to see Uehara, who has been almost unhittable during his time in Boston, give up a long ball in a key spot.
“He’s human,” first baseman Mike Napoli told reporters. “It’s unbelievable what he’s been able to do. Stuff like that happens. He’s going to keep going. He’s a good pitcher. We have faith in him and we’ll support him.”
— The Red Sox had the potential tying run at third base in the ninth inning of Game 2 but failed to score.
— The Red Sox and Rays both are 13-16. Tampa Bay is 6-0 in one-run games this season.
