BOSTON — As early as it was, the April 8 loss in Boston was arguably the toughest of the Rays season, at least until the toe-tagging Sept. 20 implosion in Toronto.
In the wreckage of the mess made by Matt Andriese and Alex Colome that frigid Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, allowing six runs on seven hits to 10 batters over 45 mostly painstaking pitches to turn a 7-2 lead into an 8-7 loss, spawned a most unusual phenomenon:
A likable, maybe even lovable, Red Sox team.
"Since day one when we came back from that (season-opening) road trip, Tampa-Miami, you had a feeling that the city was going to fall in love with them,'' said Alex Cora, the first year manager but a veteran of 3 ½ seasons playing in Boston.