ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays were counting on veteran starter Charlie Morton to give them a big boost Saturday.
Instead, he put them in a big hole, allowing five runs to the Red Sox in a messy second inning.
The Rays made up for that, getting back to even by the eighth.
But they ended up losing anyway, 6-5, as Boston rallied in the ninth.
The deciding run added to the frustration of the night for the Rays, as it came off top reliever Jose Alvarado.
Jackie Bradley led off with a single, and after Tzu-Wei Lin failed to get down a bunt, the Sox sent up Michael Chavis to make his big league debut. It was a smash, as he laced a ball that turned around Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier for a double. With runners on second and third, Andrew Benintendi, who hit a grand slam off Morton, struck again with a sac fly.
Even more frustrating, the Rays had a chance in the ninth as Daniel Robertson led off with a single against Ryan Brasier. Nick Ciuffo and Austin Meadows made outs, then Tommy Pham singled. But Pham was picked off first to end it. That capped a night of loss for the Rays, now 14-7.
They lost their first series after winning the first six of the season. They lost three straight for the first time since Aug. 3-5. They lost the best record in the majors and some of the margin, real and perceived, created by their fast start and the Red Sox's struggles. And they lost first baseman Ji-Man Choi, who left due to calf tightness after legging out a triple in the fourth.
Down 5-0, the Rays slowly came back. An Avisail Garcia homer in the second got them one run, two fourth-inning triples, of their team record four, another.
They got within one in the seventh. Kiermaier led off with a triple, pinch-hitter Guillermo Heredia drew a one-out walk and Meadows laced a ball to center to score them both with their fourth triple.
Then they tied it in the eighth when Yandy Diaz, who couldn't hit homers with Cleveland, hit his fifth for the Rays, an opposite-field shot.
