Red Sox-Rays: Boston Completes Weekend Sleepwalk with 8-2 Loss to Tampa Bay

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did.

There isn’t a single aspect of the team game that the Red Sox are doing well right now.

The pitching has been poor. The hitting has been horrendous. The baserunning has been embarrassing. The defense has been indefensible.

That’s a bad combination on a team that was built on pitching and defense.

The starting staff—the same one that was thought to be the best in all of baseball—currently has the worst ERA of any rotation in the game. The bullpen has lost four games. The offense is 0-for-its-last-32 with runners in scoring position.

Entering play today, the team was 11th in the AL in defense (nine errors and .980 fielding percentage). Baserunners have been routinely thrown out on the bases (I promise I won’t get started on Tim Bogar’s Boner on Saturday night again...really, I won’t).

Am I overlooking anything?

This morning (and afternoon) at Fenway Park, it was RHP John Lackey’s turn to implode—he allowed eight runs on nine hits and a walk in just 3.1 IP. Over his last two starts against the Rays, the right-hander has allowed 16 earned runs in just 8.1 IP (that’s a 17.28 ERA in those two outings).

Tampa got things started early and never took their foot of the Red Sox's throat. Jason Bartlett doubled to lead off the game and moved to third base on Carl Crawford’s sacrifice bunt. He then scored on Ben Zobrist’s ground ball to Marco Scutaro. Rays 1, Sox 0.

Lackey struck out the side in the third inning, but in the process of doing so he surrendered five runs on a walk and four hits, the last of which was B.J. Upton’s fourth home run of the season. Rays, 6-0.

An inning later, a double by Reid Brignac, a triple by Bartlett, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Crawford made it 8-zip.

The game wasn’t even half over, and it was over. The Red Sox showed no life...again. It was really uncomfortable to watch.

Rays starter Jeff Niemann (1-0) pitched seven sharp innings, giving up two runs and five hits. He held the Red Sox to three hits until Bill Hall singled off the wall and Jeremy Hermida followed with his homer into the right field seats with two outs in the seventh.

The Red Sox lost their sixth straight at home...it’s their longest losing streak at Fenway since a 12-game skid in 1994. Their 4-9 start through 13 games is the club’s worst since starting 2-11 in 1996.

During the current five-game losing streak, the Sox have not held a lead.

Mike Cameron was a late scratch because he had similar symptoms to those he had last week (when he missed two games to pass a kidney stone). Manager Terry Francona said he was being tested but that a CT scan seems to have ruled out more kidney stones, as had been originally suspected.

The Rays have won seven straight road games—tied for the best streak in team history. Their four-game sweep at Fenway Park is the first time in team history they’ve swept a series of three games or more in Boston.

Crawford was successful stealing a base for the 31st straight time against the Red Sox.