Key error spells trouble for Red Sox as Rays take advantage

BOSTON -- A key error coupled with another lackluster offensive performance put the Red Sox behind the eight ball on Sunday as they fell to division rival Tampa Bay, 4-1, at Fenway Park.

The visitors staked themselves a quick 1-0 lead off the bat of Junior Caminero, who took a low curveball from Boston starter Payton Tolle and deposited it a Statcast-projected 404 feet away over the Green Monster in left-center field.

“That home run was hit really hard,” Tolle said. “I tried to make a good pitch. Thought it was a good pitch.”

“I thought [Tolle's] stuff was great,” said catcher Mickey Gaspar. “A couple of runs scored on some really good pitches. We have to tip our caps to them.”

In the third inning, Tolle allowed a leadoff single to Nick Fortes, who advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt.

“That was the one inning that they strung some hits together against Tolls,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “They hit some balls out of the zone. ... Outside of that inning, it was a pretty good effort.”

With one out, Chandler Simpson hit a hard grounder to short, but Trevor Story, ranging to his right, saw the ball bounce off his glove and into left field, allowing Fortes to score. Tampa Bay pounded out four singles in the frame and scored twice.

“It’s tough,” Tracy said. “Backhand side, the runner at second is advancing, so there’s a thought there, 'I can throw to third.' Durbin is simultaneously going for the ball, so he’s not covering, and you also have Simpson running down the line.”

“It was more of the hesitation on if I want to get the runner at third in front of me or not,” explained Story, who was 1-for-4 at the plate and scored the team’s lone run. “Hesitated a bit, and that’s all it takes. I get the tough hop, and if I was playing more aggressive, I would have gotten a better hop. That’s what it came down to.”

Tolle came into his start having allowed seven hits total in his three prior efforts. That number doubled as the left-hander allowed seven hits in five innings of work while striking out four.

“I thought he pitched well,” Tracy said. “The strike percentage was outstanding. Any time you’ve got a guy with that kind of stuff, and you see that kind of strike percentage, you’re going to like it. More often than not, you’re going to be in good shape. When you’re dealing with the Rays, they grind out at-bats and they don’t strike out much.”

Boston's offense provided just one run of support behind eight hits, five of which were singles. Gaspar, called up from Triple-A Worcester at the start of this series, had two doubles and accounted for three of the club’s hits in his first big league action this season.

“It felt good,” the Sox catcher said of the second-inning double in his first at-bat. “Sigh of relief. I was able to settle in and start playing and enjoy the game.”

Boston’s 156 runs are fourth fewest in the Majors this season, behind the Giants (149), Mets (139) and Rangers (127). The Red Sox have scored three runs or fewer in 22 of 40 games this season, including 13 of 19 games at Fenway.

The first-place Rays (26-13) pushed Boston (17-23) back 9 1/2 games in the AL East standings after taking two of three games in the series.

Monday will be an off-day for the Red Sox, who host Philadelphia for three games beginning Tuesday.