Beckett, Red Sox continue Rays' slide

About the assumption Wade Davis is ready for a long and uninterrupted stay in the major leagues?

Hold off on that one.

Davis, the rookie from Lake Wales who was so impressive in his major league debut six days earlier, looked ordinary in his first road start Saturday night, and the Rays took another kick to the stomach in a miserable road trip with a rain-shortened 9-1 loss to the Red Sox.

"I don't know it was a weird night," Davis (0-1) said after being charged with eight runs in 2 2/3 innings. "It felt like I had good stuff. Just fell behind a couple of hitters and that's when you get in trouble."

Dropping their ninth in a row - their longest losing streak since an 11-game skid in June, 2007 - the Rays also fell to 1-9 in September and 0-5 on an 11-game road trip that began with a dropped doubleheader last Monday in New York.

They did so playing in wet and miserable conditions in a game that started more than two hours late after Friday night's game was rained out completely. The teams will play a day-night doubleheader today.

Saturday night's game was called 55 minutes into another rain delay after Evan Longoria opened the sixth inning with a double off Josh Beckett (15-6) and slipped on the second base bag on a sloppy infield.

By that point, a drizzling rain had become steady rain. Although the crowd of 37,755 at Fenway Park didn't seem too put out.

With only 21 games to play, the Rays' deficit in the standings is moot. They can turn their attention to getting out of this season with a winning record, and at 72-69, they'll have to go at least 10-11 to do so.

Davis (0-1) was much better last Sunday at Tropicana Field against the Tigers. He struck out the first four batters he faced, set a club record for a rookie debut with nine strikeouts and allowed only one run on three hits through innings.

Brandon Inge's grand slam off Russ Springer in the ninth inning gave Detroit a 5-3 win, but Davis had seemingly shown he belonged.

Even this time, 24-year-old, 6-5 righty started well enough. He retired the side in the first inning and worked out of a jam in the second, striking out Jason Bay, J.D. Drew and Jason Varitek in succession after walking Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz.

All four wheels came off in the third inning.

Wrapped around a fly out to center by Jacoby Ellsbury, Davis gave up singles to Alex Gonzelez and Dustin Pedroia, followed by RBI singles by Victor Martinez, Youkilis, and Ortiz.

It got worse. With the bases loaded and Drew batting, Davis threw a wild pitch allowing Youkilis to score. That made it 4-0.

After an intentional walk to Drew and a pop out by Varitek, Davis caught too much of the plate with a fastball, and Gonzalez drove it over center fielder Fernando Perez's head for a three-run double. That quickly, Boston led 7-0, and Davis' ERA had gone from 1.29 to 8.38.

"He started the third inning, and the first pitch was like 89 mph, the next one was 90, and then he got back to normal," manager Joe Maddon said. "So I don't know if he was trying to do different things in that inning, because he started out really well.

"I thought he had a good look. They got a couple of light hits, and then they got a couple of big hits."

Davis said he didn't think the delayed start or weather affected the outcome, but he thought he hurt himself by not executing better. He credited Pedroia and Youkilis for hitting good pitches.

"It should not have happened," Davis said. "I felt too good for that to happen. I mean, I beat myself. They got the hits, but I think I beat myself."

Boston added to its lead against newly promoted Dale Thayer, getting an RBI single by Ellsbury when he came up a second time in the third inning and Youkilis' 25th home run in the fourth. Andy Sonnanstine pitched a scoreless fifth.

The Rays' offense wasn't any better, managing four hits against Beckett and only two base runners through the first four innings: Willy Aybar on a walk in the second and Dioner Navarro on a single in the third.

Before Navarro's single, the Rays had gone 10 consecutive innings (going back to the second inning Wednesday at New York) without a hit.

Jason Bartlett's RBI single in the fifth after Akinori Iwamura walked and Navarro was hit by a pitch accounted for Tampa Bay's only run.

The Rays have been outscored 31-7 over the last five games, and during their nine-game losing streak, they've scored only 22 runs. Tampa Bay also has lost 13 of its last 16 games, dating to Aug. 26.

"We've lost a lot of tough games, very close games," Maddon said. "We've lost two bad games - this one and the second game of the day night doubleheader in New York. Otherwise, we've been in every game. We've just given up a lot of things late. I still like the esprit de corps. I think we're hanging together pretty well. We have to hit better on a consistent bases."