From where Chad Tracy sits — or stands, on steps of the near side of the home dugout — there are scoring chances and then there are big scoring chances.
The Red Sox, in a 4-1 loss to the Rays on Sunday afternoon, had plenty of scoring chances: base runners galore, about a dozen plate appearances with a man in scoring position, nine left on base.
But big chances — those were rarer. Really, Tracy said, it was only the ninth inning, when the Sox brought the would-be tying run to the plate with no outs.
Fenway Park had started to clear out by then, many of the 33,489 in attendance comfortable missing the final minutes of a game that didn’t feel as close as the score suggested. And it turned out they didn’t miss anything.
Ceddanne Rafaela struck out. Caleb Durbin grounded out. Jarren Duran flew out.
The game ended with another false start, one last gasp from an offense that repeatedly failed to convert.
“Get yourselves more chances. Obviously, that chance [in] the ninth is great,” Tracy, the interim manager, said. “But you’re chasing three, so you’re in a spot where nothing can go wrong.”
A lot went wrong for the Red Sox, who are 17-23 and have won one of six home series this year.
Payton Tolle pitched well: five innings, three runs, better later. But the offense didn’t do much with those smaller chances.
Duran, the leadoff hitter, recorded one hit for a third game in a row, raising his average to .194.
Masataka Yoshida, who couldn’t crack the lineup most days before Roman Anthony got hurt but now bats fourth, contributed only a harmless single. He is 1 for his last 11.
Trevor Story drew boos after his second and third strikeouts (with cheers for a double in between). He is batting .200 with a .520 OPS.
“Had some good fight in there, but just didn’t finish the at-bat the way I wanted to,” Story said. “So as a team, it was OK, it wasn’t terrible. But just got to have more traffic, more opportunities.”
The Sox have totaled 56 runs through 19 home games — their lowest-scoring, single-season, 19-game stretch at Fenway since the Green Monster was constructed in 1934.
The Red Sox rank 21st in the majors in average (.235), 23rd in on-base percentage (.314), and 29th in slugging percentage (.353).
Most of the missed chances this time came against righthander Nick Martinez, who gave up one run (seven hits) in 5⅔ innings. Mickey Gasper’s RBI single in the sixth foiled the shutout bid.
Gasper, in his first major league action of the year, had three of the Red Sox’ eight hits. Two of his were doubles.
The Rays (26-13) struck in the first inning, when Tolle tried an 0-2 curveball that was well below the zone — just not low enough against Junior Caminero, who reached and got it. It went over the Green Monster for a home run. Tolle put his hands on his hips, almost in wonder.
“It was kind of just a tip-your-hat, move-on [moment],” Tolle said. “I thought I felt good with the pitch, tried to throw with conviction. And then he just got to it.”
Tampa Bay struck for another pair in the third inning via a rally centered around an error.
Chandler Simpson’s grounder went off Story’s glove into left field. Had Story fielded the ball cleanly and gotten the out at first, the inning could have ended without any runs. He said he “kind of took my focus off the ball” as he considered trying to get the lead runner at third base.
“I just hesitated a bit,” Story said, “and that’s all it takes.”
Tolle recovered by retiring six of his final seven batters — picking off at first base the lone exception.
Upon throwing his final pitch, a swing-and-miss strike three to Caminero, he pumped his fists on his way off the mound. Caminero gave him a funny look, confused about the big show of emotion when Tolle’s team was losing.
What Caminero apparently didn’t know: The Mother’s Day assignment for Tolle came two years and one day after Tolle’s mom, Jina, died after a nearly eight-year battle with colon cancer.
“This weekend is really tough for me, I’m not going to lie to you,” Tolle said as his eyes grew wet. “It’s a tough weekend. I think [Saturday] would have been just as hard. It’s tough. So I try to get away from it as much as I can, but at the same time, it’s life. It’s part of it. Some things are bigger than baseball in that aspect. And that’s where I try to get away from it and just pitch. So it’s tough. It’s tough, but got to figure out how to play with it anyways.”
What would his mother’s message have been today?
“Suck it up,” Tolle said, “and do better.”
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.