Brayan Bello gave the Red Sox exactly what they needed on Saturday, and Boston still walked away empty-handed.
The right-hander carved through the Rays for eight strong innings, but the Red Sox couldn’t cash in enough offensively and then watched the game slip away in the ninth, when Tampa Bay rallied for a 2-1 walk-off win at Tropicana Field. Richie Palacios delivered the deciding blow with a two-out single off Garrett Whitlock, scoring Junior Caminero from third. The loss left Boston at 84-71 and pulled the series level at one game apiece.
Bello was locked in from the start. He worked eight innings, allowed one earned run on five hits, didn’t issue a walk and struck out 11 while throwing 65 of his 93 pitches for strikes. He opened by retiring the first three hitters he faced and had seven strikeouts through five innings.
The only damage against him came in the fourth, when Jonathan Aranda led off with a 361-foot homer. After that, Bello kept dealing.
Tampa Bay threatened in the seventh after Lathan Hicks and Chandler Simpson singled to put two on with no outs, but Bello slammed the door. He got Víctor Mesa Jr. on a groundout, forced Palacios into a fielder’s choice at the plate and struck out Cedric Mullins to escape.
He finished by retiring the side in order in the eighth, setting down 17 of the final 20 batters he faced and finishing with a season-high 11 strikeouts.
Boston just couldn’t match it with enough run support. The Red Sox managed eight hits, but went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Their only run came in the third, when Caleb Durbin doubled, moved to third on Jarren Duran’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Roman Anthony’s double to center.
That was the extent of the offense against Freddy Peralta and four Rays relievers.
The Red Sox had chances in the fourth and sixth, when they put two runners on in both innings and came up empty. They also threatened in the eighth after Adley Rutschman doubled with one out, but Wilyer Abreu struck out and Nick Sogard lined out to end the inning.
The ninth inning brought the biggest missed opportunity of all. Durbin doubled with one out, then was caught trying to steal third.
Duran followed with a triple to center, a hit that almost certainly would have scored Durbin from second. Isiah Kiner-Falefa then grounded out, leaving Duran stranded and the game tied.
Whitlock took over in the bottom half and the inning quickly got messy. Caminero opened with a single, Jonny DeLuca was retired, and Simpson singled to put runners on the corners.
A passed ball charged to Connor Wong moved both runners up, though Whitlock recovered long enough to strike out Mesa for the second out. He couldn’t get the final one.
Palacios lined a 2-2 sinker into right field to end it, bringing Caminero home with the winning run. The score was unearned because of the passed ball, but Whitlock was tagged with the loss after allowing three hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Boston had a chance to build on Friday’s series-opening win and keep stacking momentum, but instead it came away with one of its most frustrating losses of the season. The defeat left the Red Sox 10 1/2 games behind the first-place Rays in the American League East and made Sunday’s finale even more important.
The series wraps up Sunday at Tropicana Field, with first pitch set for 3:10 p.m. ET.
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