Rafael Devers, like the Boston Red Sox lineup, came up short at the plate during their series-opening loss against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night at Tropicana Field.
Devers entered the matchup a combined 5-for-12 in the three previous games, but facing the Rays for the first time in 2023, the Red Sox slugger displayed a far from on-par showing. Devers went 0-for-4 against the Rays, striking out three times, all looking.
The 26-year-old even had the picture-perfect opportunity in the eighth inning with game still scoreless and the bases loaded, but went down on strikes against Rays lefty reliever Colin Poche. Despite a tough loss to swallow on a phenomenal night from the pitching staff, Boston remained supportive of Devers after the 1-0 loss.
"Obviously we want Raffy up in that situation 10 out of 10 times, but (Colin) Poche made some good pitches to him," Christian Arroyo told reporters, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "That's kind of how it goes sometimes. ... It's a frustrating loss obviously losing 1-0, but gotta move on to the next day."
Red Sox hitters, who averaged over eight runs a game through the first four games played, combined for just three hits against the Rays and struck out 10 times. It was the second 10-plus-strikeout game at the plate for the Red Sox, both times resulting in losses.
"They made some good pitches and got Raffy out," Alex Cora said, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "... They pitched well, we pitched well."
Boston finished the night recording no extra-base hits while stranding five men on the base. Meanwhile, all it took was a single Brandon Lowe home run in the eighth inning to send the Red Sox back to the loss column.
After going 7-12 against the Rays in 2022, Tampa Bay is off to a 1-0 start against the Red Sox. The Rays also extended their franchise-best start of 10-0 after recording a third consecutive shutout victory.
