Saturday, 4 a.m.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before.
Better yet, stop them.
The Rays played a familiar baseball game Monday night. They took an early lead. They held on for a long while. And, in the end, their bullpen did them in.
This time, it was closer Pete Fairbanks, who gave up a walk-off, two-run homer to Ceddanne Rafaela in the bottom of the ninth inning. The win allowed the Red Sox to pass the Rays for third place in the American League East.
The Rays led 3-1 going into the inning, but Fairbanks struggled. He retired Mayer to lead off the inning on a diving play by Jose Caballero. But he walked Anthony on five pitches. Four pitches later, Rafaela hit a 406-foot homer over the Green Monster.
Rafaela had two hits and drove in three runs for Boston.
The Rays split the pitching load again. Drew Rasmussen started and gave up one run in two innings. Joe Boyle then went four innings and gave up two earned runs.
That didn’t seem like it would be enough. The Rays scored four times in their first three innings. The first run came in the first inning when Junior Caminero singled in Yandy Diaz.
The Rays scored three times against a leaky Boston infield in the third. Jose Caballero reached on an error that scored Aranda, and Jake Mangum and Chandler Simpson both came home on wild pitches.
The lead wouldn’t last. These days, they seldom do. The Rays are 4-10 in their last 14 games, and bullpen problems have become routine.
Aranda and Jake Mangum each had two hits for the Rays.
The Rays and Red Sox play again today at 4:10 p.m. Shane Baz will pitch for the Rays against Garrett Crochet.