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

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