Red Sox 0, Rays 1: As painful as a loss gets

There was some poor defense from Christian Vázquez in the inning, including a curveball in the dirt getting by, allowing the winning run to come across and end the game.

Thursday was a big start for Nick Pivetta, who not only was trying to help his team grab a big series against a top division rival, and not even solely for him to get back on track personally, but also because the Red Sox were coming off a brutal start from Garrett Richards and were looking for a little bit of length tonight.

He struck out the side in the bottom half of the first, getting two with fastballs that were located pretty much perfectly, and then the final one on a curveball below the zone.

I’m not sure if he lost the ball up around the roof or if he was just going that far on purpose, but either way he stepped off the bag in the wrong direction and didn’t retouch it.

Pivetta didn’t get that kind of break in the fifth, but he did just issue a walk and nothing else to keep his no-hitter intact through five.

The Red Sox had a little more success than the Rays at the plate, drawing a walk in each of the first two innings, but they were also without a hit through four.

Francisco Mejía behind the plate had to throw from his knees, and the ball got into the outfield, allowing Vázquez to get to third.

It looked like he was going to sneak one through the right side, but Lowe made a nice play in the hole to almost certainly save a run, and we were still scoreless.

Meanwhile, Pivetta only kept rolling into the sixth.

In the next at bat, Vázquez was caught way off second base on a back pick, ending the inning and blowing by far the best chance they had to that point in the game.

He was at exactly 100 pitches and was never going to be able to get through the whole game at that pace, but it’s still always a surprise to see a pitcher pulled with a no-no.

Josh Taylor came on trying to preserve the team-wide no-no, and after intentionally walking Manuel Margot he was facing Joey Wendle.

After the Red Sox got a walk and nothing else in the top of the eighth, it was Darwinzon Hernandez looking to keep the no-hitter, and tie ballgame, in hand.

He got a ground out on the first pitch he threw to put runners on the corners, and Franco quickly stole second to put a pair in scoring position.

To make matters even better for Boston, Devers failed to retouch second — an error the Rays already made in this game! — but Tampa didn’t notice.

That’s exactly what he did, as Barnes threw a curveball in the dirt, and while he got a swinging strike for strike two, Vázquez couldn’t keep it in front of him.

The Red Sox now start another big divisional matchup, facing off against the Yankees for three games this weekend.

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