ST. PETERSBURG -- The Red Sox will have to hold off at least one more day before celebrating a trip to the postseason.
A brilliant pitching performance by Brayan Bello -- his best of the season -- wasn’t enough. Instead, the Rays earned a hard-fought, 2-1 victory in walk off fashion in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday at Tropicana Field.
Richie Palacios ended it with a bloop single to right against Garrett Whitlock.
Bello was the story for Boston. The righty was dominant and efficient, firing eight innings and 93 pitches while allowing five hits, walking none and tying his career high with 11 strikeouts.
It was the continuation of a strong upward trend for Bello, whose rough first two months of the season landed him back in Triple-A for five weeks.
Roman Anthony continued his solid weekend in his home state by belting an RBI double in the top of the second to break the scoreless tie and stake the Sox to a 1-0 lead.
Jonathan Aranda answered for the Rays in the fourth with an equalizing solo homer to lead off the fourth.
Neither team scored again until Tampa Bay won it in the bottom of the ninth. MVP candidate Junior Caminero caught a break when his seemingly routine foul popup hit one of the catwalks, allowing him to extend the at-bat. He made the most of it, belting a leadoff single to left. Chandler Simpson kept it going with a one-out single.
Palacios did the rest.