Red Sox drop series opener against the Rays, 3-0.

The Red Sox lost with Joe Kelly going to the disabled list after only throwing 23 pitches.

Boston started the day with some moves by sending Noe Ramirez to Pawtucket and calling up Heath Hembree, who would be of much help for the team today. After losing in one of the most disappointing ways possible against the Blue Jays in the series finale, the Red Sox were trying to go back to the win column by sending Joe Kelly to the mound against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Kelly faced only four batters before being replaced by Hembree. It was later reported that Kelly has a right shoulder impingement and will go to the DL for at least a couple of weeks.

“I wasn’t feeling right out there. Warming up I thought I would be able to get through it. I just couldn’t get loose out there,” Kelly told The Providence Journal. “Anytime I would try and reach back and get a little more on anything, nothing was coming out right and it just felt a little bit awkward.”

The bullpen did an excellent job at replacing Kelly and didn’t allow a run in 9 innings while Rays starter Drew Smyly held the Red Sox to only one hit, which came off the bat from Jackie Bradley Jr. and loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the 3th. The Red Sox were unable to score any of those runs by having Mookie Betts grounding into a forceout and Dustin Pedroia into a double-play.

Hembree was replaced by Robbie Ross Jr. who pitched three solid innings only allowing one hit to Logan Forsythe in the top half of the 5th. Junichi Tazawa and Craig Kimbrel finished the job for nine innings, sending the game to the 10th.

Trouble came for the Red Sox in extra innings when Matt Barnes gave up a solo home run to Kevin Kiermaier and doubles to Forsythe and Desmond Jennings. Rays’ closer Alex Colome ended the game with a 1-2-3 inning.

Game notes:

• Smyly has pitched 26.1 innings against the Red Sox allowing only one run.
• The Red Sox had their last 23 batters going down in order.
• The Rays have been the worst offensive team in the Major Leagues, scoring only 34 runs.

We can’t really grade or criticize Kelly’s performance since he only faced four batters. However, he should have said something if he was feeling discomfort since the warmups.

It is not common to replace the starter during the top half of the 1st and not allow a run during the next nine innings. The bullpen took one of the team and pitched how most of us wish they have done during the past couple of games. Maybe this will affect them in the long run, but tonight they showed how good they can actually be. Yeah, Barnes gave up three runs in the 10th but you can’t put the blame on him when maybe he wasn’t even supposed to pitch today.

Bases loaded, no outs and the first three batters of the lineup can’t produce a single run. The offense has carried the team on the first games of the season, but tonight they cost them the game.