The Red Sox (50-39) closed the first half of their 2017 season in perfect sequence to how they played the first three months of the campaign – with zero consistency.
On the Fourth of July, the Sox were riding high having won six straight games. Since then, they’ve dropped four of their last five, and now head to the MLB All-Star break on a down note.
The Sox lost 5-3 to the Rays in St. Petersburg Sunday afternoon as Joe Kelly coughed up two runs out of the bullpen in the eighth inning. It followed a decent performance from David Price, who allowed just two earned runs on five hits in six innings of work. The only Red Sox runs in their first half finale gave via the home run as Mookie Betts bashed one to left center in the first inning and Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run blast to right in the seventh.
Despite the ugly performance along the Gulf of Mexico this past weekend by the Sox, they will enter the second half of the season in first place in the AL East. The Rays (47-43) are creeping up the division standings and are 3.5 games behind the Sox while the Yankees are also 3.5 behind Boston.
New York will be in town for a three-game set against the Sox starting this Friday. The Yankees lead the season series over the Sox so far, 4-1.
