ST. PETERSBURG – A game-tying solo homer by the slumping Marcelo Mayer in the third inning offered hope that Monday could be a night for the Red Sox to put some runs on the board and take the opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field against the Rays.
However, the offense couldn’t do much else against opener Ian Seymour (four strong innings) or Tampa Bay’s bullpen, and the Sox endured a tight 3-1 defeat that dropped them back to 10 games below .500 (27-37).
While the road had offered the Red Sox a chance to take back a glimmer of momentum over the last few weeks, that hasn’t been the case so far on this trip to face the top two teams in the American League East. Boston had dropped two of the three games on what has become an abbreviated five-game journey with Saturday’s game in the Bronx getting postponed.
Rookie lefty Connelly Early, who has been mostly solid this season, labored for his second straight turn.
His first pitch was belted into the seats in left by Yandy Díaz. It was the seventh homer Early has allowed in his last five starts.
As for Mayer, he came into the night sputtering, producing a batting line of .167/.215/.208 in his previous 20 games and 79 plate appearances dating back to May 7, getting just one extra-base hit over that span.
To open the third, he jumped on a 2-1 sweeper from Seymour and drilled it a Statcast-projected 401 feet to right field for his third homer of the season, and first since May 15.