Though the Red Sox mounted an uprising against Rays closer Troy Percival, the distance that they had to travel due to the dominance of Tampa Bay starter Matt Garza and the struggles of Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka proved too great a challenge to overcome. Boston scored a run, but fell a run short in enduring a 4-3 loss to the Rays.

The Sox were almost denied the opportunity to rally thanks to the struggles of another one of their pitchers in the ninth. For the second straight outing, Hideki Okajima had no command, walking three Rays. He has now walked four and hit a batter while recording just one out. After Okajima walked the bases full, Justin Masterson came on to face Gabe Kapler, who sent a fly towards the triangle that Jacoby Ellsbury raced back to catch on the lip of the warning track.

With a two-run lead, the Rays went to Percival, the former smoke-thrower who now, as a 39-year-old, succeeds on the basis of smoke and mirrors. Percival threw four pitches, all fastballs, to leadoff man Jason Varitek. On the fourth, Varitek elevated the ball into a jet stream, clubbing his second homer of the year, both of which came left handed. As mentioned here, the Sox captain hit only two homers in his final 252 left-handed plate appearances of the 2008 season.

But the Sox could come no closer than the 4-3 margin. Jacoby Ellsbury, who took a 3-1 pitch that he thought was ball four, instead flied out after the pitch was called for a strike. Dustin Pedroia smashed a grounder to third that Evan Longoria consumed for the second out. David Ortiz (a career .083 hitter against Percival entering Thursday) walked, setting the table for the scorching hot Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis, who had reached in all four of his plate appearances (walk, two singles and a double) flied to the Triangle for the final out, concluding the Sox’ 4-3 loss in the rubber game of the series.

All things considered, it was an extremely impressive way for the Rays to begin their defense of the A.L. pennant. Tampa Bay received dominant starts from both Matt Garza and Scott Kazmir and showed the potential to create a number of solid bullpen match-ups against hitters in the late innings. The offense was perhaps even more impressive, flashing impressive power with five homers (two by Evan Longoria) that the team complemented with an aggressive style on the bases.

“It’s important you stress out the other team on a lot of different levels,” Rays skipper Joe Maddon said before the game. “There’s more power to this team than people believe…We want to be able to win games in different ways. We have a nice balance.”

For the Sox, the dominant outing by Josh Beckett in the season opener was the obvious highlight of the series. So, too, was the potential depth of a bullpen that possesses outrageously good stuff, as evidenced by the fact that Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez were employed as the low men on the totem pole over the three days. Aside from Kevin Youkilis, who is 8-for-11, and Varitek, who has two homers and a number of loud outs, few members of the Sox are enjoying consistently good results at the plate. Of course, a trip to the warmth of the West Coast might prove the needed tonic on that front.