BOSTON -- Rays pitchers cite a refrain: “Solo homers don’t beat you.” But a quartet of solo shots were enough for the Red Sox to beat Zack Littell on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
Littell gave up a career-high-tying four homers over six innings in the series finale, and the Rays couldn’t out-hit those mistakes in a 4-3 loss to the Red Sox.
“It comes down to execution. You just have to be better,” Littell said. “I don't have the stuff to be able to miss over the middle of the plate. And tonight, I missed over the middle of the plate two times.”
The Rays have lost back-to-back games for the first time since May 18-19. They also dropped their first series since losing two of three in Miami from May 16-18, snapping a six-series streak of wins or splits.
Littell had been on an incredible run, going 6-0 with a 2.79 ERA while the Rays won each of his last eight starts. Wednesday ended that streak and halted a career-long run of 10 straight starts in which he allowed three runs or fewer. The right-hander felt he mostly maintained that form against the Red Sox, and it showed in some aspects of his performance.
Littell produced 13 swinging strikes. He struck out six without a walk. He was again efficient enough to get through six innings, needing only 92 pitches to do so.
That, Littell told pitching coach Kyle Snyder, made the home runs even more aggravating.
“I told Snydes it's one of those nights you kind of lose sleep over, because outside of the four runs -- and really, we'll narrow it down to the two pitches … I threw the ball as well as I have in the last six, seven, eight starts,” Littell said. “It's frustrating to watch the offense grind it out, and you just [don't] keep the momentum on your side.”
Littell said he could live with the first two homers he gave up. The Rays constantly preach the importance of getting ahead in the count, especially for a pitcher like Littell, and both drives were on the first pitch of an inning. Jarren Duran launched Littell’s first pitch of the night out to right-center, and Marcelo Mayer smacked a first-pitch slider out to right to lead off the second inning.
“The first two homers are going to happen. It's not fun. I'm giving up a lot of them, and I'm aware of that,” Littell said. “But I can definitely live with those a little bit more than just poor execution and being in the middle of the plate.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash concurred.
“We don't want him to throw a ball -- I can promise you that,” Cash said. “I mean, keep throwing strikes and just execute and make that pitch a little bit better.”
The other two homers bothered Littell.
In the fourth, he threw a 1-1 splitter middle-in to Mayer, and the rookie lashed it out to right for his second homer of the game. The Rays managed to tie the game after that, as Yandy Díaz hit a two-run homer to right off Red Sox starter Walker Buehler in the fifth, but Littell gave the lead right back when Abraham Toro drove a 2-0 fastball out to center field.
“More than anything, it's just frustrating for these guys to put together good at-bats, scratch three runs across against a really good pitcher -- and for me to just continue to give them back,” Littell said.
Littell has given up 21 home runs this season, the most in the Majors, including 17 solo. Of the 37 runs he has allowed overall, 25 have scored on homers. It’s a delicate balance for Littell; he fills up the zone early and often, so opposing lineups come prepared to swing early and often.
“We want him to throw strikes. I know most teams come in with a pretty aggressive approach, because he throws so many strikes,” Cash said. “He left a couple balls middle-in that didn't get missed. But [I would] like to think that offensively we can overcome the solo runs. We just didn't tonight.”
Indeed, the Rays had a couple opportunities. One came late, as they loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but Matt Thaiss struck out against reliever Greg Weissert. Their best chance came in the second inning, when they loaded the bases with nobody out. But they only managed one run, on a Josh Lowe grounder.
“That’s the game,” Cash said. “There's certain games where it comes early. We've got to find a way to get more than one run.”