BOSTON — Thursday night’s box score showed that Wade Miley was the loser in the Red Sox’s 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, giving up four earned runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings.
But the box score doesn’t tell the whole story.
Miley actually was dominant through five innings, holding the Rays scoreless and allowing just two hits in that span. He unraveled in the sixth inning, giving up a solo home run and two RBI doubles to put the Rays up 3-2. Another solo shot in the seventh made it 4-2, and Miley’s night was done.
“I think tonight Wade was outstanding for the first two times through the order,” interim manager Torey Lovullo said. “He just started to make some mistakes out over the middle of the plate. … When you make mistakes like that against some of the good hitters that they have, you’re going to pay for it. It was the middle of their lineup that did most of the damage.”
While Miley’s sixth and seventh innings certainly weren’t good, he didn’t dig his teammates into a hole they couldn’t get out of. They had three half-innings to score two runs, but they couldn’t put any numbers on the board while Boston’s bullpen held things down.
“Our offense couldn’t play catch-up,” Lovullo said. “Our offense was held in check for the third consecutive day.”
Here are some more notes from Thursday’s loss.
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— Miley actually has been pretty consistent for the Red Sox in the second half of the season. The left-hander has made it through at least five innings in 19 consecutive starts, and Thursday was just the second time Miley left the game while Boston was losing in his last 10 outings.
— The Rays have one of the better rotations in Major League Baseball, and that was evident in Boston’s series against Tampa Bay. After winning Monday’s contest 8-7, the Red Sox put up just six runs over the final three games, all of which were losses.
— The Red Sox ended up losing their season series against the Rays 10-9. That means the only American League East set they’ll take this season (ironically) is the one against the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays by another 10-9 score.
They’re already down 5-10 against the New York Yankees and 5-11 against the Baltimore Orioles before their upcoming set of series.
— David Ortiz had a historic night for the Red Sox after starting things off with a two-run home run. The blast was Ortiz’s 36th of the season, his 502nd of his career and gave him 101 RBIs on the year.
The home run marked Ortiz’s ninth season with 100-plus RBIs, tying him with Ted Williams for the most in Red Sox history. It’s also his sixth season with 35-plus homers and 100-plus RBIs, which passed Jimmie Foxx and Manny Ramirez for the club record.
And, he needs just 20 home runs to pass Williams’ career mark.
“When you start to throw Ted Williams’ name around, and you’re drawing comparisons, that’s impressive,” Lovullo said. “So that speaks volumes for me in itself, but we get the complete package with David Ortiz day in and day out. … I’ve been saying it all year — you just book him for 30 (home runs) and 100 (RBIs). It’s a given here at Fenway Park.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
