BOSTON -- There is, at least, some good news for the Rays. They won’t play the Red Sox again until Sept. 18-20, the last regular-season series of the year at Tropicana Field, and Boston will probably lose a game before then.
For those in search of silver linings, that’s just about it after the Rays’ 6-1 defeat on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park completed a four-game series sweep for the Red Sox, whose 13-game winning streak is tied for the second-longest run in franchise history.
Meanwhile, the Rays have lost a season-high five straight games, their first five-game skid since April 2-8, 2025, after being swept for only the fourth time this year.
"It's a talented team that kind of went through it early on in the season, and they've come out on the other side of it,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We kind of caught the brunt of it."
It began with a lopsided 10-0 defeat on Friday afternoon, then the Rays couldn’t hold a lead in the bottom half of the second half-opening doubleheader. They scored plenty on Saturday but lost two leads in a crushing 7-6 loss. Then came Sunday’s series finale, which turned into another mostly one-sided affair.
Victor Mesa Jr. created a little positive momentum for the Rays with an inside-the-park home run off right-hander Sonny Gray in the second inning, but that was as good as it got for Tampa Bay.
The Rays (56-42) hold a slim 1 1/2-game edge over the Yankees (55-44) for the best record in the American League, but nothing else went their way during this long weekend.
“I point to every facet of our game,” Cash said. “We just weren't playing as clean of baseball, whether it was on the mound, at the plate or on defense.”
The Rays' starting pitching didn’t give them much of a chance in any of the four games, and as a team, they’ve allowed five or more runs in each of their last five games.
Right-hander Griffin Jax gave up seven runs in five innings in the opener, Mason Englert allowed five in five innings in the nightcap, then lefty Ian Seymour exited after surrendering three runs in three innings on Saturday. On Sunday, Shane McClanahan gave up six runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks over five innings.
McClanahan admitted he felt “out of sync” in his first start since July 8, the result of the Rays giving him additional time off to manage his workload, but he expressed confidence he’ll get it figured out before his next outing.
“The body felt great. Arm felt great. Obviously, those 10 days [are] great for the body, but really bad for the routine,” McClanahan said. “Just looking forward to getting back [to] normal and having that routine and getting some things cleaned up.”
McClanahan didn’t get a ton of help, either. In the second inning, Caleb Durbin stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Hunter Feduccia before scoring on a double by Andruw Monasterio. And the third inning was a mess in every way, as the Red Sox scored three runs without a hit for only the fifth time in the expansion era.
Some of that was McClanahan’s doing, as he issued a leadoff walk to Jahmai Jones, plunked Wilyer Abreu with one out, then walked Willson Contreras. But there were also costly misplays around him, specifically during Durbin’s at-bat with the bases loaded.
First came a passed ball that got by Feduccia, allowing Jones to score. Then came Durbin’s grounder to third baseman Junior Caminero, whose throw home to nab the lead runner caromed off Abreu’s shoulder before he crossed the plate. Caminero’s error put Contreras in position to score on a groundout by Romy Gonzalez and allowed Durbin to advance to second.
“The third inning seemed to kind of define the outcome of the game right there,” Cash said. “We had opportunities, didn't capitalize. They had opportunities and did capitalize.”
Indeed, the Rays finished Sunday hitless in 15 at-bats with runners in scoring position, as they stranded 11 men on base. They had multiple runners on with less than two outs in the first, second, third and ninth innings, yet the only run they scored was on Mesa’s mad dash.
It was that kind of series for the Rays, including the two key hitters atop their lineup: Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda. Díaz, who is second in the American League with a .310 average, went 1-for-16 (.063) with two walks, while Aranda was 1-for-12 (.083) with two walks.
Díaz summarized his performance using one word, which at least rhymes with “hit,” but he was as confident as ever that the Rays will put this skid behind them.
“It’s just a bad moment, right? That’s all it is. It’s a bad moment,” Díaz said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “We’re trying to do everything that we can to win, obviously, but it just hasn’t come through.”