BOSTON — The Red Sox’s bullpen let one slip away.
Junichi Tazawa surrendered two runs on three hits in the eighth inning Sunday as the Red Sox blew a lead and suffered a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. The defeat snapped a three-game winning streak for Boston, which now goes on an eight-game road trip.
The close contest between the Sox and Rays isn’t anything out of the ordinary. Nine of the 12 games between Boston and Tampa Bay this season have been decided by two runs or fewer.
Let’s run down some notes from Sunday.
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— Tazawa’s implosion marked a missed opportunity for the Red Sox. The tandem of Tazawa and closer Koji Uehara usually is so reliable for Boston. A fourth straight victory seemed well within reach.
Robbie Ross Jr., the first man out of the bullpen to replace starter Wade Miley, successfully protected a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning by striking out Joey Butler with the bases loaded. Tazawa just couldn’t bridge the gap to Uehara.
“When Robbie gets the key strikeout, or shuts down the seventh inning, we felt like things were going to set up good with Taz in the eighth and Koji in the ninth,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “Credit (the Rays) for putting some good at-bats together on Taz. The confidence that’s in him is as high as anyone on our staff coming into games late, even in tight situations. It was setting up well.”
Evan Longoria led off the eighth with a double. Asdrubal Cabrera plated him with a ground-rule double to tie the game. James Loney hit a bloop single to give the Rays a 4-3 lead.
— The Red Sox rely so heavily on both Tazawa and Uehara sometimes that it’s reasonable to wonder whether hitting a wall is inevitable. Tazawa might be reaching that point, as he’s surrendered nine extra-base hits since July 1. He hadn’t allowed more than two extra-base hits in any month before that.
“Five straight fastballs to Asdrubal, which is a little bit uncommon for him, and the last one leaked back over the plate,” Farrell said of Tazawa’s eighth inning. “Even against Longoria to lead off the inning, trying to go down and away, ball ends up back arm side and close to Evan on that particular pitch.
“It’s been fastball location that hasn’t been as sharp in those moments.”
Tazawa owned a 1.64 ERA entering June. His ERA now sits at 2.93.
For what it’s worth, Tazawa said through a translator after the game he feels fine physically and isn’t experiencing any fatigue.
— Miley, who allowed two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings, has allowed two earned runs or fewer in three of his last four starts. He bounced back nicely from a rough start his last time out.
“A very good assortment of all his pitches,” Farrell said. “I thought he blended his offspeed pitches in well against a heavily right-handed-hitting lineup.”
— Xander Bogaerts, who went 1-for-3, is hitting .394 (43-for-109) with 18 RBIs since July 2. So yeah, he’s been pretty good.
— David Ortiz passed Hall of Famer Andre Dawson for 37th place on Major League Baseball’s all-time RBI list with an RBI double in the third inning. Ortiz has 1,592 career RBIs.
— Hanley Ramirez was lifted for a pinch-runner, Alejandro De Aza, after singling in the eighth inning.
“He tweaked his knee on that previous swing to the base hit,” Farrell said. “He should be good to go for Tuesday, but yeah, a little bit of a zinger and just got him off his feet.”
— Brandon Workman, who underwent Tommy John surgery in June, was in the Red Sox’s clubhouse. He’s been rehabbing down in Fort Myers, Fla., but the right-hander returned to Boston this weekend for a normal checkup with doctors, according to MassLive.com.
Workman reportedly said he plans to begin throwing in mid-October.
— The Red Sox placed Rick Porcello on the 15-day disabled list with a right triceps strain. He apparently suffered the injury in his last start, which was another disastrous outing for the right-hander.
— Henry Owens will make his major league debut Tuesday night against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, according to Farrell. Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez will pitch Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
