Sox Summary: Fourth time isn’t the charm either

Members of the silver-medal winning U.S. Olympic women's hockey team threw out the first pitch before the game. (Winslow Townson/AP)

Even the Patriots Day holiday couldn’t wake up the Red Sox bats as they fell to the Tampa Bay Rays for the fourth straight game, 8-2, at Fenway Park on Monday morning. With the loss, the Red Sox suffered the four-game series sweep for the first time ever against the Rays.

John Lackey was unable to play stopper in his third start of the season as he suffered his first loss in a Boston uniform. He allowed nine hits and eight runs, while walking one and fanning three in just 3.1 innings. His first two starts were quality appearances of at least six innings. In the 5.2 innings after Lackey’s departure, the Red Sox bullpen of Scott Atchison, Ramon Ramirez, and Scott Schoenweis held Tampa Bay scoreless on just three hits.

An RBI groundout in the first inning by Ben Zobrist gave the Rays a 1-0 lead, while Evan Longoria hit a two-run double in the third to give them a 3-0 cushion. The next batter, B.J. Upton, put the game out of reach with a three-run home run into the Red Sox bullpen for a 6-0 lead.

Tampa Bay extended their lead to 7-0 on a Jason Bartlett RBI triple ending the day for Lackey. Later that inning, Carl Crawford closed the Rays offense with a sacrifice fly.

In the seventh, Jeremy Hermida hit a two-run home run, his second of the season to get Boston on the board.

Jeff Niemann pitched seven solid innings of five-hit, two-run baseball, while walking three and fanning four to earn his first win for the Rays. Andy Sonnanstine came out of the Rays bullpen and held the Red Sox hitless in the final two innings.

The Red Sox fell to 4-9 on the season and will open a three-game series against Texas on Tuesday night at Fenway Park in the middle leg of the current ten-game homestand. Tim Wakefield will take the ball for Boston, looking for his first win. He will oppose Colby Lewis, who will be in search of his third win.

Sox Notes: Little progress for Cameron; Ellsbury

The early start is apparently getting to the Red Sox as two injured players are making little to no progress.

Center fielder Mike Cameron was a late scratch from the Red Sox lineup on Monday morning as he is experiencing similar symptoms that he had before his kidney stone passed on Friday. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Left fielder Jacoby Ellsbury has had only “minimal” progress with his bruised ribs. He collided with Adrian Beltre over a foul ball in Kansas City nine days ago (last Sunday).

If neither of them recover, Josh Reddick is on call with the Triple-A PawSox and could come up to fill in the holes.

Red Sox and Marathon always make Patriots Day special

Runners were off early this morning from Hopkinton. (Yoon S. Byun/Boston Globe)

The Red Sox will face the Tampa Bay Rays today at 11:05 a.m., while the Boston Marathon is underway in Hopkinton this morning.

Keep it locked on our live Patriots Day blog this morning as we follow this great day pitch-by-pitch and stride-by-stride!

Red Sox Game Notes: The Rays are coming, the runners are coming!

The Red Sox (4-8) will look to salvage the fourth and final game of the holiday weekend series with the Tampa Bay Rays (9-3) on Patriots Day, one of the biggest days on the Boston sports calendar. If the Sox lose, the Rays will set a franchis record with eight straight wins away from Tropicana Field. The team has been very successful on the holiday and they will send John Lackey to the hill in his search to remain perfect at 2-0. Game time is 11:05 a.m.

Patriots Day: Patriots Day is celebrated in Massachusetts and Maine, remembering Paul Revere’s “Midnight Ride” and the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. The 114th running of the Boston Marathon also marks the day, passing through Kenmore, near Fenway Park. The Red Sox have enjoyed success on Patriots Day as they are 66-48 all-time on the holiday and have won six straight and eight of the last nine contests. The Sox are 0-1 against Tampa Bay as they lost 4-1 on April 19, 1999.

RED SOX
16 Marco Scutaro SS
15 Dustin Pedroia 2B
41 Victor Martinez C
20 Kevin Youkilis 1B
34 David Ortiz DH
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
7 J.D. Drew RF
22 Bill Hall CF (Mike Cameron scratched; reason unavailable)
32 Jeremy Hermida LF

40 John Lackey RHP

RAYS
8 Jason Bartlett SS
13 Carl Crawford LF
18 Ben Zobrist RF
3 Evan Longoria 3B
23 Carlos Pena 1B
2 B.J. Upton CF
5 Pat Burrell DH
15 Reid Brignac 2B
30 Dioner Navarro C

34 Jeff Niemann RHP

Series Stuff: The Red Sox trail the series, 3-0 and have lost more games to the Rays at Fenway already than they did in the entire 2009 season. Boston is in jeopardy of being swept by the Rays in a series at Fenway Park for the first time ever, while a Rays win will also tie their franchise’s longest winning streak against Boston, previously set three times.

For the Record: At 4-8, the Red Sox have gotten off to their worst start since 1996, when the team began 2-10. The 1996 team went on to an 85-77 record, finishing in third place in the American League East. Their current 1-5 home record is also the worst since 1996.

Dropping like flies at the Fens: Haverhill native and Northeastern graduate Carlos Pena leads all active Major Leaguers in home runs against the Red Sox since 2007 with 16.

Pitching Matchup: John Lackey vs. Jeff Niemann
John Lackey will look to remain perfect as he will take the ball seeking to be the stopper of the four-game losing streak. Last time out, Lackey topped the Twins over 6.2 innings as he allowed just two runs on seven hits, while walking two and fanning three. With the win on Wednesday, he became the first Red Sox hurler to win an outdoor game at Minnesota since Bill Campbell on May 14, 1981. He pitched six shutout innings on April 7 against the Yankees, but did not factor into the decision. Since the beginning of last season, Lackey is 6-1 in his last 11 starts in day games, stacking up second during that span with a 2.17 ERA. He is 9-2 with a 3.07 ERA in 12 career starts against the Rays. He has pitched a pair of complete game shutouts against them as well. The Rays will counter with former Harwich Mariner Jeff Niemann in the series finale. He got the no decision in his first two starts against the Orioles, including leaving in the second inning after being hit off the right shoulder on April 8. In his last start on Sunday, he tossed seven innings of eight-hit, three-run ball, while walking one and fanning three.