TAMPA — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 7-3 loss to Tampa Bay at George M. Steinbrenner Field:

1) A sweep is a hard thing to gain, especially on the road, so maybe it wasn’t realistic to think the Red Sox might go 3-0 this weekend. They dropped the final game and had to be satisfied with taking the series. The loss pretty much wipes out whatever slim chance the Red Sox had of taking the division as it dropped them five games in back of first-place Toronto with just six games to play. Not even three head-to-head meetings in Toronto, starting Tuesday, are going to be enough.

2) In the seventh inning, the Red Sox hinted at another late-inning comeback. Trailing 4-1, the Sox bunched together three straight singles to start the inning and added another, one out later, to score twice and pull within a run. But Nate Lowe struck out and Ceddanne Rafaela popped up, leaving two baserunners. The Red Sox were 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position, but more telling of their struggles was the fact that they stranded 10 — including the bases loaded twice, and had two runners left on in another inning.

3) The Red Sox did themselves no favors on the bases. In the fourth inning, with Romy Gonzalez (walk) on first base, Lowe doubled to left. But third base coach Kyle Hudson got over-aggressive and sent Gonzalez home, where he was easily tagged out for the first out of the inning. In the fifth, it was more of the same as Jarren Duran drew a leadoff walk, then got himself picked off in a rundown for the first out.

4) Connelly Early’s third start didn’t go as smoothly as his first two. After issuing just one walk in his first two outings, Early proceeded to issue walks to the second and third hitters he faced, and both baserunners came around to score, along with a third run, unearned, thanks to a poor throw to the plate by third baseman Alex Bregman. Early settled down thereafter and didn’t allow another run over the next three innings, facing the minimum number of hitters in that span. But at 67 pitches after four, he was lifted.

5) Nathaniel Lowe had himself a really rough night at the plate. Yes, he had a double in the fourth. But he fanned to end the first inning, leaving the bases loaded and did the same thing in the fifth, going down swinging to leave the bases full. In the seventh, he struck out a third time with two runners on base, though that was only the second out of the inning.

6) Called upon out of the bullpen for the first time since last Wednesday, Steven Matz didn’t make a strong entrance. The first batter he faced, Brandon Lowe, took him deep on the fourth pitch he threw, belting a hanging curveball for his 30th homer of the season. Matz initially pitched well after being acquired from St. Louis at the deadline, but he’s been off of late — he’s been scored upon in four of his last eight outings and has allowed three homers in that stretch.

7) In his return to the lineup and facing major league pitching for the first time in more than a month, Wilyer Abreu looked a little overwhelmed. Serving as the DH and hitting eighth, Abreu went down swinging in each one of his four plate appearances, earning the dreaded Golden Sombrero.

8) The Red Sox are off Monday, their last scheduled off-day this season. On Tuesday, they’ll begin their final road series of the year, and they’ll send RHP Lucas Giolito (10-4, 3.46) vs. the Toronto Blue Jays’ RHP Kevin Gausman (10-10, 3.38) at Rogers Centre at 7:07 p.m.

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