Boston native Alex Cobb, scheduled to pitch for the Rays in Thursday's series finale against the Red Sox, struck out 13 Padres in just 4 2/3 innings in his last start. (AP)

The Red Sox head to St. Petersburg, Fla., to take on the Rays, looking to get back track after a 2-5 homestand. It’s been a rough stretch for the Sox, dropping eight of their last 10 games and falling out of first place. They go into the series with their divisional rivals in third place with a 22-16 record, two games behind the Yankees.

They’ll face off against a fourth-place Rays team that just pulled above .500 again for the first time since the first week of the season, winning their 19th game of the year on Sunday. Their season has been disappointing so far, but it seems that the Rays are starting to get hot. They’re coming off a three-game sweep of the Padres and have won their last five contests.

For the past few years, Tampa Bay’s pitching staff has been among the best in the league. But it’s been the offense that has carried the Rays as of late. The lineup has scored 90 runs in just the last 14 games, while the pitching staff has been inconsistent. But manager Joe Maddon indicated he thinks that everything is starting to come together for the Rays. “The pitching is starting to look like it’s supposed to, and while all that’s happening, let’s maintain this offensive production and see where it takes us,” Maddon said after the Rays’ 4-2 win over the Padres on Sunday.

Here are the matchups for the three-game set.

Tuesday: John Lackey (1-3, 2.82) vs. Matt Moore (6-0, 2.14)
Wednesday: Jon Lester (5-0, 2.73) vs. David Price (1-3, 4.78)
Thursday: Clay Buchholz (6-0, 1.69) vs. Alex Cobb (4-2, 3.09)

WHO’S HOT: RED SOX

• Jarrod Saltalamacchia was one of the few Red Sox hitters to have a good homestand against the Twins and Blue Jays. Over the seven games, Saltalamacchia went 8-for-18 with a home run and four doubles, boosting his average to .263 with an .895 OPS. The catcher is second on the team with nine doubles, behind only Mike Napoli.

• Daniel Nava continues to be one of the most consistent hitters on the club, hitting .288/.391/.500 on the season with five home runs, seven doubles, 16 walks and 24 RBIs. The outfielder batted .308  on the seven-game homestand in four starts. Nava has been impressive both with the bat and in the field, splitting time between left and right field without making an error in 210 innings.

• Outfielder Shane Victorino’s most memorable moment of the series might have come in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game when he ran full speed into the right field wall in a failed attempt to catch a home run off the bat of Emilio Bonifacio. But Victorino blasted his first two home runs during the homestand and batted .393 over the seven games. Victorino owns the third-highest batting average and OBP on the team, and has put up a .308/.370/.393 line through 29 games.

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According to a major league source, Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino has been cleared to play Tuesday after being examined at Massachusetts General Hospital Sunday afternoon. All of the X-ray images taken on the outfielder came back negative, showing no damage to his ribs or back.

Victorino was taken to the hospital after colliding with the right field wall after chasing what resulted in Emilio Bonafacio’s fourth-inning home run. The play resulted in the right fielder remaining on the ground for a short while, with Red Sox manager John Farrell and the team’s medical staff running out to the warning track to check on the player. Victorino remained in the game before being removed in the seventh inning.

Victorino had been dealing with back issues since April 25, having just returned to action full-time May 3. Since coming back from the injury, the switch-hitter has hit .348 with a .938 OPS, having gone 1-for-3 before exiting the game Sunday.

Garin Cecchini hit his fifth homer -- a new career high -- on Sunday. (Salem Red Sox)

One day after being hit in the shoulder by a pitch that subsequently glanced off his neck on the ricochet, Garin Cecchini was not only back in the Salem lineup, but continued to build on his breakout year. The third baseman went 2-for-3 with a double and his career-high fifth homer of the year, going deep to the opposite field. The 22-year-old is now hitting .376/.471/.675 with 21 extra-base hits in 31 games.

It seemed appropriate that Cecchini delivered an impressive performance on Mother’s Day, given that his mother, Raissa Cecchini, played (and continues to play) a central role in his baseball development. Raissa Cecchini was the hitting coach at Barbe High School when the Sox prospect played there, and continues to throw him batting practice and hit him grounders in the offseason.

Her influence on Cecchini’s development as a top hitting prospect was far-reaching. The third baseman offered this telling example:

“I remember one time, I rolled over four times to the second baseman. That was probably about the most frustrated I’ve ever been,” Garin Cecchini recalled. “She came in and just said, ‘Hey — you’re alright. You’re just hitting the outside part of the ball.’ The next at-bat, I tried to attack the inside part of the ball and hit a line drive up the middle.

“It’s kind of that calm and collected way that she presents her hitting [knowledge] that just really helps. She stays so calm under pressure, or while you’re frustrated and throwing over four balls in my case. She just said, ‘Nothing is mechanically wrong — you just hit the outside part of the ball.’ It was something so simple,” he added. “It’s unique because something so simple as that, she was so calm in saying that. I respect her so much not just because she’s a loving mom but because she’s helped me so much in the game of baseball.”

In staying inside the ball and driving it out to left, Cecchini undoubtedly did his mother — who preaches on-base percentage before power — proud.

To listen to a podcast with both Garin and Raissa Cecchini, click here.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 6-4 LOSS AT CHARLOTTE (WHITE SOX)

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Shane Victorino

After the Red Sox’ 12-4 loss to Toronto, the team announced that Shane Victorino had been taken to Massachusetts General Hospital to get his ribs and back examined. The outfielder was forced to leave Sunday’s game in the seventh inning after he ran into the right field wall chasing Emilio Bonafacio‘s fourth-inning home run.

Following the collision with the wall, Victorino remained on the ground for some time while Red Sox manager John Farrell and the team’s medical staff attended to the outfielder.

“The way Shane hit the wall, he started to stiffen up as the game went on,” Farrell said. “And given what he’s been dealing with, low back-wise, we weren’t going to take any chances further today.”

Victorino had been dealing with back issues since April 25, having just returned to action full-time May 3. Since coming back from the injury, the switch-hitter has hit .348 with a .938 OPS, having gone 1-for-3 before exiting the game Sunday.

“Everything to points to him being ready for Tuesday,” Farrell said.

Ryan Dempster had his roughest outing as a Red Sox in Sunday's loss to the Blue Jays. (AP)

Momentum has left the building for these Red Sox.

With its 12-4 loss to the Blue Jays, the Red Sox have now lost eight of their last 10 games while heading into a nine-game road trip standing at 22-16. They hit the road having turned in a 2-5 homestand.

Since the beginning of their series against the Rangers (May 3), the Red Sox have been outscored 62-33.

This time, both a lack of hitting (primarily against rookie starter Chad Jenkins) and pitching (with starting pitcher Ryan Dempster serving as the chief culprit) did in the Red Sox.

The outing was by far the worst of Dempster’s young Red Sox career, with the righty suffering his first loss ever against a team from his native Canada (6-1). He watched his ERA go from 2.93 to 3.75 after allowing six runs on seven hits over five innings. After escaping the first without giving up a run, Dempster would lead the Sox down a path in which they surrendered at least one run in each of the next five frames.

“I was missing up a lot today — more than I normally do, for whatever reason,” Dempster said. “I couldn’t really pinpoint it. I tried to get the ball back downhill to be consistent. It would be good for a few hitters and then I’d get the ball up. I just tried to work hard, but I just wasn’t good enough today.”

Offensively, the Sox could do nothing with Jenkins, the 20th overall pick in the 2009 draft. In five-plus innings, the hurler gave up just two runs on seven hits. John Farrell‘s club finished the day going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and now is 13-for-79 in such situations since May 3.

“I think we have a number of guys dealing with some frustration right now,” said Farrell. “There’s no question about it. The key for us to maintain our preparation and our work routine. Those are the key things that we can control. We can’t direct the ball after its hit and I know with the attitude of this group, it’s a resilient one and we’re getting tested right now. There’s no doubt about it.”

WHAT WENT WRONG

• Emilio Bonifacio’s two-run homer in the fourth not only gave the Blue Jays a 5-0 lead, but almost resulted in a significant injury for right fielder Shane Victorino. While tracking the blast into the Toronto bullpen, the outfielder smashed his side, on the full run, into the somewhat-unforgiving padding. After lying on the field for a few moments — leading Farrell and the medical staff to run out to analyze the situation — Victorino remained in the game (although he would ultimately come out in the seventh and taken to be examined at Massachusetts General Hospital after the game).

“The way Shane hit the wall, he started to stiffen up as the game went on,” said Farrell, who surmised Victorino would be ready to play Tuesday. “And given what he’s been dealing with, low back-wise, we weren’t going to take any chances further today.”

• Just a half-inning after Mike Napoli had cut his team’s deficit to a run via a solo homer, Dempster gave the run right back when Edwin Encarnacion hit homer over the left field wall to increase the visitors’ lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning. Encarnacion came into the game just 1-for-14 against Dempster and 3-for-31 vs. the Red Sox this season.

• Andrew Miller didn’t have any better luck than Dempster, allowing three runs on two hits (including a Brett Lawrie homer) while getting just one out.

• Red Sox pitching ultimately allowed five home runs (two by Jose Bautista). It was the first time this season the Sox staff has allowed that many homers, having done it five times in 2012.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

• Napoli showed signs of life, launching a solo homer over the center field fence to lead off the fourth. (He would also later double.) For Napoli — who leads the major leagues with 23 extra-base hits — it was his first home run since hitting a pair on May 1. Of the slugger’s seven homers, five have come against the Blue Jays. The Red Sox came into Sunday 4-1 when Napoli hit a homer and 3-9 in games the first baseman (who was serving as designated hitter Sunday) didn’t have a hit.

• The Red Sox were able to get Pedro Ciriaco some playing time at first base, with the utilityman coming on in the seventh after starter Mike Carp was pinch-hit for by Jonny Gomes. Ciriaco highlighted his day by homering in his first at-bat of the game.

David Ross

Prior to the Red Sox’ series finale against the Blue Jays, catcher Ryan Lavarnway was activated to the 25-man roster, with David Ross going on the seven-day concussion disabled list.

While no official word on the cause of the concussion was given, Ross was hit in the facemask via foul balls multiple times during the Red Sox’ Saturday loss to the Jays.

Update: After the Red Sox’ 12-4 loss to the Jays, Ross said that foul balls off the bat of Colby Rasmus and Emilio Bonafacio on Saturday were the cause of the concussion. Ross reported some headaches and fogginess Saturday night. The only other occasion the catcher has experienced a concussion was in 2007, after being run over by Mike Cameron.

“He felt those symptoms come on late last night. and given his position we can’t put him at risk with any additional foul balls or foul-tips to the mask,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said after Sunday’s game. “So it’s the seven-day DL that he’s on.”

It is the second time this season Lavarnway has been called up from Triple-A Pawtucket, where he was hitting .313 with an .883 OPS to go along with a pair of home runs. He had totaled multiple-hit performances in three of his last five games.

David Ortiz

David Ortiz will be getting the day off Sunday against right-hander Chad Jenkins, with Mike Napoli filling in at the designated hitter position for the Red Sox’ series finale against the Blue Jays.

Here is the Red Sox’ lineup:

Jacoby Ellsbury CF

Shane Victorino RF

Dustin Pedroia 2B

Mike Napoli DH

Daniel Nava LF

Mike Carp 1B

Jarrod Saltalmacchia C

Will Middlebrooks 3B

Stephen Drew SS

Ryan Dempster will take the mound for the Red Sox. To see all the matchups, click here.