So much for playing well on the road.One of the few things the Boston Red Sox had done well this season was playing better away from Fenway Park, entering their road trip with a 16-14 mark on the road. After winning the first game in New York on Friday night against the Yankees, the Red Sox dropped their next four games, including a three-game sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays.The 7-5 loss on Wednesday moved the Red Sox to 12 games below .500, their most since 2020.The Red Sox offense battled back late with three homers and got a solid outing from their rookie pitcher, but it wasn’t enough in a season that’s been full of disappointment and shortcomings.Thursday marks an off day before the Red Sox return home Friday for three games against the Texas Rangers and three against the Toronto Blue Jays.“It was tough,” interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters of the trip. “Got off to a really good start in New York, then the way it finished, yeah, I think it’ll be good for everybody to have a breather (Thursday).”A few takeaways from the Tampa series:Offensive inconsistencies aboundAfter a brutal start to the game in which Rays starter Drew Rasmussen struck out 13, the Red Sox showed some late life with two homers in the eighth inning to pull within 5-4.Caleb Durbin hit a solo homer to lead off the eighth, and Ceddanne Rafaela followed with a three-run homer to make it a one-run game. Reliever Justin Slaten extinguished any hope of a comeback, though, giving up a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. Durbin, on a tear the last two weeks, hit another homer in the ninth to make it 7-5.“We’ve done that a lot, and it hurts more,” Tracy said. “You get back to within a run and feel like you’re there and you’re one more swing away.”Those were the silver linings in an otherwise dreadful offensive day.Rasmussen was so dominant early that the top four Red Sox hitters went 0-for-11 with 11 strikeouts and a hit by pitch. Rafaela, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu each struck out three times in their first three at-bats. According to the NESN broadcast, it marked the first time since 1901 that a team’s top three batters struck out in nine straight plate appearances to start a game.Boston’s offensive inconsistencies appeared to turn a corner in mid-May, hitting .279 with a .775 OPS in 15 games from May 15 to May 31. The Red Sox averaged 4.7 runs per game, and it looked like they might have finally figured things out.Then June arrived.Since the start of June, they’ve largely fallen back to wayward at-bats. In eight games this month, they’re averaging 3.3 runs per game and are hitting just .215.They’ve scored three or fewer runs in five of eight games, once again putting impossible pressure on their starting pitchers.Connelly Early and Payton Tolle weren’t at their best in the first two games of the series in Tampa, but they also had a razor-thin margin for error, as did Jake Bennett in his return to the team.Durbin’s emergence has been one of the bright spots. In 12 games since he began working with a private hitting coach, before home games at Fenway, he is hitting .341 with five doubles, a triple and two homers.Still, the Red Sox need more from Duran and Abreu, in particular, who’ve cooled off.Bennett returnsWith Brayan Bello optioned to Triple-A Worcester last week, the Red Sox turned to left-hander Bennett to take his spot in the rotation.Bennett, who made two starts for the Red Sox earlier this season, started strong against Tampa Bay with three strikeouts through his first two innings against a Rays team that has the lowest strikeout rate in the league. But Tampa Bay got to him in the fifth with their Rays-brand of small ball.They tagged him for three runs on a chopper up the middle that Isiah Kiner-Falefa couldn’t coral, an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.Bennett finished five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out four in a line that appeared worse than it was. He’s expected to remain in the rotation.As for Bello, there’s no timetable for how long he’ll remain in Worcester, but he’s scheduled to make a start there on Thursday.Bennett had a 1.60 ERA in nine starts for Worcester.Garrett Crochet conundrum, Romy Gonzalez updateGarrett Crochet has not started a game since April 25, the same day Alex Cora and six coaches were fired.At the time he was sidelined, Crochet didn’t think his left shoulder inflammation was serious. While he’s made slow, steady progress facing batters in a live batting practice session on May 26, he had another setback with left lat tightness shortly thereafter.That was more than two weeks ago. Crochet hasn’t resumed throwing.The Red Sox plan to re-evaluate him during the homestand that begins Friday, but the prolonged absence allowed the Red Sox to move him to the 60-day injured list Friday, meaning he won’t be eligible to return until late June.At this rate, though, he might not return until after the All-Star break. The 26-year-old has been dismayed by his inability to help the team, and the Red Sox don’t want to push him and risk further injury. The situation has been frustrating for both sides.In six starts this year, Crochet had a 6.30 ERA, one year after posting a 2.59 ERA and 255 strikeouts in a career-high 205 1/3 innings. It’s fair to wonder if Crochet ever fully recovered from the heavy workload last year.Making matters worse, one of the prospects the Red Sox traded for Crochet, 2024 first-round pick Braden Montgomery, hit a walk-off homer in his big league debut for the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.Meanwhile, Roman Anthony has yet to resume swinging after he experienced pain while hitting off a tee on May 28. Anthony has been on the IL with a sprain in his right ring finger that’s prevented him from fully gripping a bat, and Tracy said they’re taking it day-to-day, monitoring how he feels when he tries to grip.Like Crochet, it’s hard to imagine Anthony returning before the All-Star break, which begins July 13.One piece of good news for the Red Sox is that infielder Romy Gonzalez, who’s been out all season following shoulder surgery this spring, is nearing a rehab assignment, perhaps as soon as next week. Releasing his surgically repaired shoulder at the end of his swing is the final step in his progression.Last year, Gonzalez hit lefties (.331 average, .978 OPS in 198 plate appearances) as well as righties (.286 average, .718 OPS in 143 PA). While he’s not going to be the big right-handed bat they need, he could still lengthen the lineup.