Just when the Sox thought they were out, the Rays pulled ’em right back in!
One clear sign that a game is going poorly is that the starting pitcher is gone before an out is recorded in the fourth inning. This was the unfortunate reality for John Lackey, who was replaced by Scott Atchison to start the fourth.
While Lackey did have a reason to be gone—he was hit in the ankle by a come-backer with the last pitch he threw and left with a contusion—the fact that he gave up two more runs in the third to go with the three he gave up in the second probably has just as much to do with it.
The Sox offense finally pushed a couple of runs across in the sixth inning off of Wade Davis, as Josh Reddick, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Jacoby Ellsbury each picked up hits to start the frame. But Adrian Gonzalez was robbed of a hit by Evan Longoria, and the rally died early.
This left Scott Atchison free to give the runs right back to Tampa Bay on three doubles. A better night than Lackey, and valuable given the eight outs he recorded to preserve the more valuable members of the pen, but a bit soul-crushing all the same to have the value of the rally so quickly mitigated.