The Boston Red Sox missed an opportunity to clinch their postseason spot on Saturday, falling 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The defeat moved Boston to 84-71 and evened the three-game series at one win apiece.

Brayan Bello turned in an exceptional start but did not receive enough offensive support. The right-hander worked eight innings, giving up five hits and one earned run while issuing no walks and striking out 11, matching his career high. He threw 65 of his 93 pitches for strikes and retired 17 of the final 20 batters he faced.

Tampa Bay's only run against Bello came in the fourth inning, when Jonathan Aranda sent the first pitch of the frame 361 feet for an opposite-field solo home run. Bello later escaped a seventh-inning threat after the Rays put two runners on with nobody out, recording a groundout, a fielder's choice at the plate and a strikeout.

The Red Sox moved ahead in the third. Caleb Durbin began the inning with a double, reached third on Jarren Duran:s sacrifice bunt and crossed home when Roman Anthony doubled to center. Trevor Story extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a sixth-inning single.

Boston finished with eight hits but went just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners stranded. The Red Sox also had opportunities in the fourth and sixth innings, putting two runners aboard in each frame without scoring.

Boston's biggest chance came in the ninth against Bryan Baker. Durbin doubled with one out, but Nick Fortes threw him out while attempting to advance to third. Duran then tripled to center, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out to leave him stranded.

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Garrett Whitlock took over in the bottom half and surrendered singles to Junior Caminero and Chandler Simpson. A passed ball by Connor Wong moved the runners into scoring position. After Whitlock struck out Víctor Mesa Jr., Richie Palacios lined a 2-2 sinker into right, bringing Caminero home for the walk-off.

The run was unearned because of the passed ball, while Whitlock was charged with the loss after allowing three hits over two-thirds of an inning. Aroldis Chapman was unavailable because of lat tightness.

Tampa Bay improved to 25-14 in one-run games and has won seven of its last eight. The Rays also lowered their AL East magic number to five.

The teams will meet again Sunday at Tropicana Field, with first pitch set for 3:10 p.m. ET.