ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Red Sox went on tilt in the Trop Wednesday night, surrendering a four-run lead to the Tampa Bay Rays and losing, 7-5, before an intimate gathering of 12,733.
Collapsible Kelly: Joe Kelly took a 5-1 lead into the sixth, the Rays having scored on a solo home run by Steven Souza in the first, and Tampa Bay appeared headed toward a fifth straight loss.
But the Rays strung together four straight singles and a bases-loaded walk against Kelly to force his exit, and pinch-hitter Brandon Guyer flared a two-run single off an 0-and-2 pitch from Craig Breslow to tie the score at 5.
The Rays had been 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position until singles by Desmond Jennings, Allan Dykstra and Guyer.
The Rays forged ahead in the seventh against reliever Edward Mujica. Singles by Asdrubal Cabrera and Evan Longoria put runners on the corners with no outs. Jennings grounded into a double play as Cabrera scored the go-ahead run, and Jake Elmore made it 7-5 with a home run deep into the left-field seats.
Elmore had just been recalled from the minors to replace rookie second baseman Ryan Brett, who went on the DL with a partially dislocated shoulder, the 11th Ray to be disabled this season. He had entered the game as a pinch runner in the sixth.
Pedroia, Ortiz go deep: Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run home run off Rays starter Nathan Karns in the third for his fourth home run of the season. Pedroia did not hit his fourth home run last season until June 19.
David Ortiz, who hit a ball into the Rays’ Touch Tank during batting practice, hit his third of the season, a 445-foot blast that was his longest home run since he hit one 482 feet exactly a year ago to the day off Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees. Ortiz’s home run was the 469th of his career, which moved him past Chipper Jones to No. 32 on the all-time list. The RBI was notable because it moved him past Joe DiMaggio to 46th place on the all-time list.
The Sox also scored a run when Hanley Ramirez, who was running on the play, circled the bases on a two-out single by Mike Napoli in the third. In the fifth, Ryan Hanigan doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Mookie Betts.
Sox lose Victorino: Shane Victorino, playing four games in a row for the first time this season, left the game in the fifth inning with what the team called right hamstring tightness. Victorino is batting just .143 (5-for-35) as he attempts to come back from back surgery.
Bogaerts in a bind: Xander Bogaerts went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and is hitless in his last 13 at-bats.
Lost challenge: Rays manager Kevin Cash is now 0-for-9 in challenges after unsuccessfully challenging both ends of a 5-3-5 double play executed by Pablo Sandoval and Napoli in the eighth.
