BOSTON _ Rays manager Kevin Cash said before Saturday's game the No. 1 thing he wanted to see from unsteady starter Jake Faria was "efficiency."
And then Faria went out _ after the Rays spotted him a two-run lead _ and was historically inefficient.
He allowed the first three Red Sox to reach base and gave up four runs in a 38-pitch first inning.
Then he walked the based loaded around a couple outs and gave up a grand slam to Xander Bogaerts in a 35-pitch mess of a second inning before getting mercifully pulled.
For his short afternoon's work, in what ended up a 10-3 Rays loss, Faria had arguably the least efficient such outing in franchise history _ throwing 73 pitches to get five outs.
No Rays or even Devil Rays pitcher _ not Victor Zambrano, not Dewon Brazelton, not Tanyon Sturtze _ had even thrown as many pitches without getting through two innings. (Zambrano came close, throwing 72 over 11/3 innings in a 2004 game.)
The last pitcher to be so inefficient anywhere in the majors was in 2010 when the Mets' Mike Pelfrey threw 74 pitches over 11/3 innings in a July game against Arizona.
With a planned "bullpen day" on Sunday the Rays were looking for Faria to work deep into the game.
Austin Pruitt saved them from bigger problems by working 41/3 innings, but the Rays still turned to infielder Daniel Robertson to work the eighth _ which he did in an efficient 11 pitches.
The Rays have Ryan Yarbrough and Matt Andriese available for Sunday, but they also could opt to add a fresh arm with a callup from Triple-A Durham.
The Rays hitters didn't do much to get back in the game after their two-run first, as they went down 17 straight against Boston starter Rick Porcello before scoring again in the eighth.
After winning the season opener, the Rays have now dropped seven straight, the first team to do that since the 2005 Rockies and the first AL team since they did it themselves in 2001.
Overall, the seven-game losing streak is their longest since July 2016.
