Sox struggle at the Trop

Despite getting off to a great start when David Ortiz crushed a three run homer int he top of the first inning, the Red Sox lost their third straight game and suffered their ninth loss in the last eleven games at Tropicana Field this evening. John Lackey looked great for the first couple of innings, and then crumbled in the fourth.

The Rays scored all five of their runs in the fourth inning - two on a botched popup that got lost in the lights and catwalks of the Trop and dropped between Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli. Somehow, that play was scored as a hit, and those two go-ahead runs would be more than enough for the Rays.

Remarkably, the Red Sox are still third in the AL East standings, which speaks more to the incredible success they had in April than anything they have attempted to accomplish since. John Lackey looked pretty fantastic before his fourth inning struggle - just as he looked solid in his last start before his own throwing error signalled the beginning of the end in a similar meltdown.

Jon Lester will get the start tomorrow for the Sox against David Price. Lester is 5-0 with a 2.73 ERA this season, including a complete game shutout (just one hit away from a perfect game) in his last outing, while David Price has been underperforming thus far. With an ERA creeping up near five, and just a single win to his name, Price is not exactly the fearsome competitor he's been in years past. Still, lately the Red Sox have found all kinds of ways to lose, so I won't take the outcome of tomorrow's game for granted.