Nathan Eovaldi looked effective in his three-inning start while the Red Sox belted two home runs, but it wasn’t enough as Boston fell 5-4 to the Rays on Saturday.
Tampa Bay scored the winning run on a seventh-inning home run off relief pitcher Marcus Walden. Both the Rays and Red Sox totaled seven hits.
The Red Sox left four runners on base while stealing an MLB season-high six bases against Rays tarter Tyler Glasnow.
The Red Sox fall to 16-31 while the Rays climb to 30-16.
Here’s how it went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Tight.
The Red Sox twice tied the game with home runs, but couldn’t pull out the win.
ON THE BUMP
— Eovaldi returned to the mound for the first time since Aug. 20.
The right-hander pitched three innings against the Rays, scattering three hits while allowing one earned run. Eovaldi also tallied four strikeouts on 40 pitches (28 strikes).
He did give up a solo home run to lead off the first inning, but remained unscathed otherwise.
— Chris Mazza took over for Eovaldi, throwing both the fourth and fifth frames. Mazza allowed three earned runs on two hits as the Rays built a 4-2 lead after five frames, compiling three strikeouts on 35 pitches (21 strikes).
— Marcus Walden threw the seventh inning and allowed the eventual game-winning home run to Brandon Lowe.
It was the lone hit allowed give up by Walden, who recorded two strikeouts on 19 pitches (12 strikes).
— Jeff Springs came out for the eighth, striking out two batters while keeping a clean inning and giving the Red Sox a chance headed into the ninth.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Michael Chavis got the Red Sox on the board with a lead-off home run in the third. Chavis’ third blast of the season tied the game at one.
— Kevin Plawecki extended Boston’s lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth with a one-out, RBI single to center field, scoring Xander Bogaerts from third.
— Christian Arroyo tied the game with a two-run home run in the seventh inning. Arroyo’s first-ever homer in a Sox uniform scored Jackie Bradley Jr. from second.
— Yairo Muñoz slapped a two-out double in the ninth inning, giving the Red Sox had the game-tying run on second base. But Chavis grounded out to end the game.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Yeah, so Lowe has killed the Red Sox.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will face the Rays for the fourth and final game of the series Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Mary Holt/USA TODAY Sports Images
