Sox Lose to Rays 4-3

Peavy wasn’t bad and the Boston offense was good, if not its usual hot self. It wasn’t enough, however, to beat the Rays in Tampa Thursday night.

Sep 12, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter

(34) reacts at home plate after he hit a solo home run during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Rays struck first when Wil Myers‘s single off Jake Peavy scored Evan Longoria in the 2nd inning. In the third, James Loney doubled and scored David DeJesus. The Sox got on the board when Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a solo homer in the 4th inning off of Jeremy Hellickson. But the Rays answered right back when Desmond Jennings homered in the bottom of the inning. The Sox made a come back when Ortiz homered and Stephen Drew doubled to score Salty. The score remained tied at 3 apiece until Rubby De La Rosa gave up a double to Myers which scored Longoria, again.

Peavy pitched 6 innings with 4 hits, 3 earned runs, 5 walks, and 4 strike outs. Rubby earned the loss with 2 hits and 1 earned run bringing his ERA to 5.79. Mike Napoli, 0-4 tonight, had his full incentive package kick in which earned him $13 million.

The small silver lining to the Sox loss tonight is that it may have slowed the Yankees’s fight for the wildcard. The key will be for the Sox to beat the Yanks when they come to Fenway for a three-game series this weekend.

The Sox “Magic Number” remains at 8.