Kenley Jansen pitched for a third straight day for the first time this season and gave up a three-run walk-off home run to Brandon Lowe as the Rays downed the Red Sox 8-6.
Tuesday was a rare tough outing for the Boston closer, who suffered just his fourth blown save in 33 chances in 2023.
“It didn’t go my way,” Jansen said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I ain’t going to lose my confidence for that. I’ve been doing this for a long time.”
Jansen threw a combined 29 pitches in the previous two games, both of which resulted in Red Sox wins and felt comfortable physically.
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“I felt great,” Jansen said. “Ball was coming out great. Just the game didn’t go our way today. I thought the ball was coming out great. Velo was higher than yesterday.”
Jansen had no problem going right back out to the mound on Tuesday as Alex Cora managed in an attempt to take the series in the first two games.
“You have to, man,” Jansen explained. “We’re playing and trying to get into the playoffs. Sucks that we lost today. Just got to move on.”
The Red Sox could have gained a game in the wild card standings with a win as the club stays 4 1/2 games outside of the final American League playoff spot.
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Boston can still win the series with a victory on Wednesday with first pitch at 6:40 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.