So much for all that momentum.
Less than a day after putting up 20 runs against the Rays, storming into the series finale on the coattails of rookie starter Tanner Houck, the Red Sox were once again left searching for answers.
Unfortunately for Alex Cora's club, this continuous quest for consistency is still remarkably inconsistent.
This time it was mishmash of Tampa Bay pitchers that held the Red Sox' offense to just two hits, handing the hosts a 8-1 defeat at Fenway Park.
It started with four innings from Drew Rasmussen, one of the pitchers acquired by the Rays from Milwaukee in the May Wily Adames trade. He was followed with two frames from old friend Collin McHugh, and one each from JT Chargois, Louis Head and Ryan Sherriff.
When it was all said and done, the team which had pounded out 19 hits the night before was left with one Rafael Devers RBI double and a single out of Kevin Plawecki.
At least this one couldn't really be viewed as too much of a step back for Houck.
The rookie righty had helped the Red Sox carry a 1-1 deadlock into the sixth inning before the wheels fell off. A leadoff single from Brandon Lowe was followed by Wander Franco's latest feat of strength - a game-changing two-run homer. One Nelson Cruz double later and that would be it for Houck.
The final line for the Sox starter included three earned runs on six hits over five innings, with Houck throwing a career-high 89 pitches. He did, however, strike out eight and not walk a batter.
"The stuff was really good," Cora said. "That’s it. It was really good. Infield single. Ground ball up the middle. A 3-2 battle where I think he fouled off three sliders. He left a sinker up. He was really good. At that moment, you have to tip your hat to the kid who hit a home run there."
While this one certainly shouldn't rest on the shoulders of Houck, it did highlight a concern going forward for the pitcher. The three batters were just the sixth, seventh and eighth hitters to face the hurler for a third time through the lineup this season, with Houck now having surrendered five hits in such a situation.
And to top it all off, the bottom two hitters in the Red Sox' batting order, Marwin Gonzalez and Franchy Cordero, struck out five times in a combined five at-bats.
Make that five games out of first-place.
"Obviously, there are certain parts of our roster where we have to be better," Cora said. "Overall, to win ballgames it takes 26 guys and not everybody is playing well. Not everybody is contributing the way they’re capable of. We’ll talk about it. Obviously, there is a lot of stuff going on this weekend and next week with the IL and obviously Alex coming back and Christian coming back on Saturday. That’s something we’ll talk about as a group and we’ll go from there."
