Red Sox swept away by the grateful Rays

“That was a game we felt like we should have won,’’ manager Terry Francona said.

The dispiriting setback was followed by a 6-5 loss that ended well after midnight in raw conditions. Mike Cameron and Marco Scutaro, surehanded players signed to upgrade the team’s defense, committed errors that led to five unearned runs.

The Red Sox have lost three straight and trail the Yankees and Rays by four games in the division. They are 1-4 at home.

“A night like this hurts,’’ David Ortiz said. “April can be a crazy month in baseball, but you don’t expect this. Not from this team.’’

There were nearly as many empty seats as filled at Fenway Park when the second game started at 9:05 p.m., many fans deciding to stay home rather than brave the cold, damp weather to watch a team that has so far been uninspiring.

Those who skipped the game missed only a few moments of excitement.

The top of the first inning took 26 minutes to complete as Clay Buchholz threw only 19 of 43 pitches for strikes and allowed four runs. All were unearned thanks to a Little League error by Cameron, who closed his glove too early trying to catch a two-out fly ball off the bat of Carlos Pena.

“It’s a play I should have made. The ball just cut a little bit,’’ Cameron said. “It’s a play I’ve made a million times and I should have made it. It seemed like it turned the whole game.’’

One run scored on the misplay. Buchholz then walked B.J. Upton to load the bases before Burrell drove a three-run double to right field that stuck in the mud on the warning track.

“We had a chance to get out of it with one [run] and we didn’t,’’ Francona said. “That was a huge difference in the game.’’

Buchholz (1-1) flipped the switch after the first inning and retired 13 of the last 15 batters he faced, seven by strikeout.

An error by Scutaro, his third this season, helped give the Rays an unearned run off Scott Atchison in the sixth. Evan Longoria added a long solo home run in the seventh, a blast off Atchison that soared halfway up the light tower in left field.

“We talked all spring about how good we’re going to be defensively,’’ Francona said. “We’ve not done that consistently yet. I think we will, I know we will. When we don’t, we need to pick each other up.’’