Red Sox Wrap: Boston Falls Short, Fails To Split Series With Rays

The Boston Red Sox dropped their series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1, at Fenway Park on Monday night.

The Red Sox dropped to an even 30-30 while the Rays improved their Major League Baseball-best record to 43-19.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston came through in the defensive department, issuing an in-game response through some nifty glovework, however, the offense was never in place, keeping them in the loss column for a third straight game.

In the first three innings, the Red Sox looked like the best defensive outfield in baseball as Kiké Hernández and Alex Verdugo collaborated for some fair-game robbery. They each robbed the Rays of sure-thing home runs, bringing back what would’ve been a two-run homer and solo blast, respectively, which took away three runs just 24 hours after giving away two runs.

But while that was a reassuring sign to altering the direction of Boston’s current momentum, falling back into the offensive drought that proved to be especially harmful in their 13-13 split in May returned. That isn’t ideal when going up against the hottest team in baseball, and like they’ve done all series long, the Rays were ready to strike when given the window of opportunity.

Tampa Bay’s pitching limited Boston to just six base hits — two for extra bases — and recorded nine strikeouts. Rafael Devers, who went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles, was the only Red Sox hitter to finish with multiple hits.

Unable to make it away without committing an error, Boston raised its total to eight in its last seven games.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Rays starter Shane McClanahan set the tone for Tampa Bay and played a huge hand in stumping the Red Sox from the get-go. The southpaw pitched six innings, holding Boston to just one run off five hits and two walks with five strikeouts, pushing his dominant record to 9-1 this season.

— Justin Turner came through with the only offensive sign of life from the Red Sox lineup, crushing a solo home run over the Green Monster to eliminate McClanahan’s shutout bid in the sixth inning. Turner finished 1-for-3 after going 0-for-4 on Sunday.

— Rays infielder Yandy Díaz tortured the Red Sox all series long, going 7-for-19 through the four-game set. Díaz went 2-for-4 in the series finale, as he recorded a hit in every game in Boston.

WAGER WATCH
FanDuel Sportsbook set the odds of Christian Arroyo hitting a double at +360. Making his return after having last played on May 6, Arroyo cleared those odds after going 1-for-2. A $100 wager on the 28-year-old would’ve resulted in a $460 total payout.

UP NEXT ON NESN
The Red Sox begin a six-game road trip starting Tuesday night against the Cleveland Guardians. First pitch from Progressive Field is set for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, following a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.