"It's almost been like now we're almost leaning on him to do that," Mike Lowell said. "He's been pitching great, but I don't think it's fair to expect someone to go eight innings and one earned or none earned. He's been hot, so hopefully we can ride that wave a little bit."
Masterson, who came in with a 2-0 record and a 2.70 ERA, had been expected to provide some relief. His efforts had prompted questions of what the Sox would do when Daisuke Matsuzaka comes back from the disabled list, but last night he hardly had what the Sox needed. It was a combination of little command and a fat pitch to Evan Longoria, one that left Tropicana Field shaking and Masterson shaken.
He entered attempting to lower the rotation's 5.52 ERA. He left having increased it by allowing six runs in six innings, hardly the antidote the Sox were anticipating.
"A sacrifice fly and two home runs is what happened," Masterson said. "Pretty much the [fifth] inning got out of hand. Just made a poor pitch decision to Longoria, one that got out and over the plate, and he put it where he's supposed to. Aside from that I feel really good.
"If I make a better pitch, we might be winning this game today. That's unfortunate for me to have to think about."
Through four innings Masterson allowed just one hit, keeping his pitches down and men off base. That changed in the fifth. He gave up a solid single to Gabe Gross, then walked Akinori Iwamura and hit Jason Bartlett with a pitch. B.J. Upton hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring the first run for the Rays, then Masterson walked Carl Crawford. That left the bases loaded for the second time in the inning, this time with two down and the Rays' best hitter at the plate.
