Evidently, the presence of the 2004 World Championship Red Sox team on the field before Tuesday's game didn't have any sort of motivational affect on the present-day Red Sox. Their second-to-last home game ended the way too many home games have this season - with a loss.
After the former champs left the field, reality set in in a hurry. Jeff Keppinger smoked a three-run homer to left to give the Tampa Bay Rays a lead they would not relinquish, resulting in a 5-2 loss for the Sox.
Lefty David Price fanned 13 and allowed just seven hits in a complete-game victory, improving to 19-5 for the season.
Starter Clay Buchholz later yielded two additional runs in the sixth -- one unearned -- as Jose Molina singled home Keppinger, and with the help of an error by left fielder Daniel Nava, Carlos Pena, too.
Buchholz, who left after six innings, suffered his seventh loss of the season and hasn't posted a win in more than a month, dating back to Aug. 16.
The Sox managed solo runs off Price in the second and third innings. Danny Valencia singled home the first run while the second run came on a balk.
The win kept the Rays' fading wild card chances alive in the American League while making it more likely the Sox will finish with 90 losses or more. At 69-86, the Sox need to go at least 4-3 in their final seven games to avoid a 90-loss season.