ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Explaining exactly what happened Tuesday night wasn’t easy for those wearing the visiting gray and red.

The Red Sox’ first step into the schedule’s meat and potatoes was, how should we say, uneven, to say the least.

This was the irrefutable part: the Rays currently own the Sox at Tropicana Field, a reality that was brought to the surface once again thanks to Evan Longoria’s 13th-inning, walk-off, two-run homer against Sox reliever Takashi Saito.

The second home run of the night for a player who has already entered into the “best in baseball” argument gave Tampa Bay a 4-2 win (recap), marking its 13th triumph over the Red Sox in the teams last 15 meetings under the white, tilted roof.

That was cut and dried. Everything else, well, that’s another matter.

It was a day that once again began and ended with David Ortiz leaving everyone waiting another day for his explanation of what happened in that test for performance-enhancing drugs back in 2003. (More on that later.)

Then there was the return of Daisuke Matsuzaka to his team, having driven up from Fort Myers to play some long toss and gear up for a bullpen session a week from Wednesday. (There won’t be more on that later because Matsuzaka chose to wait a day to address his current lot in life.)

There were also the obligatory injury updates, although even those didn’t offer much in the way of definition. Tim Wakefield threw off flat ground, and will take to the bullpen Wednesday, but still said his left calf had “no strength” in it, continuing to provide a roadblock to returning to the rotation.

"I had the analogy said to me that it was like squeezing a banana and letting go. Even though the outside looks good and you peel the banana away it's still bruised on the inside." said Wakefield. "I think there was some pressure on the nerve for a long period of time, it's just a matter of the nerve regenerating itself. There's no atrophy. There could be if that nerve stayed supressed for a long time but there isn't.

"It's frustrating because everything else feels good and I'm able to throw 120 feet without a problem. We'll see how it feels off the mound tomorrow. My biggest hurdle right now is fielding my position."

Jason Bay (hamstring) wasn’t quite ready to come back, while J.D. Drew (groin) was just ready enough, although the roles are scheduled to be reversed Wednesday night with Bay stepping back into the lineup and Drew stepping out.

And all of that was before a pitch was thrown.

Perhaps Rays manager Joe Maddon summed it up best for both sides when he said, “It was exasperating. The game was totally exasperating.”

But it was four hours and 57 minutes after Matt Garza’s first pitch that the signature head-scratcher took place – Red Sox manager Terry Francona’s decision to pitch to Longoria. For the Sox, it was a dark moment on a night that had good, bad, and, in the case of this decision, downright ugly.

THE SEEMINGLY BAD

That was the way many described the move not to have Saito issue a free a pass to Longoria, who, after a homer and four strikeouts, took advantage when the Red Sox reliever shook off catcher Jason Varitek and threw the misplaced fastball.

Tie game. Man on third. Two outs. Thirteenth inning. And, almost most important, Longoria at bat. The explanation of the manager:

“We’re getting into a situation where, at least with the open bases, we can maybe, we have some room to make some pitches,” Francona said. “We back him into a bind, you’ve got (Ben) Zobrist next. If you want to go all the way to the bases loaded, you’re looking at a guy who’s thrown 40 pitches. That’s putting (Saito) in an unfair position. I wish the ball wouldn’t have gone out. I don’t think (walking him) would have been the right thing to do.”

While Francona believed it to be the right thing, the decision spawned more second-guessing than the Red Sox manager has seen in some time. Of those who were surprised that a free pass wasn't issued was Longoria, who had already hit his 20th homer of the season earlier in the game before launching his second career walk-off long ball.

"A little bit," said Longoria when asked if he was surprised. "I didn't want to go up there with the mindset that I was going to give up the at-bat and concede the fact that they were gonna walk me or pitch around me. I've done that before and then I get out, and I'm walking back to the dugout, going, 'Why did I do that? Why wasn't I ready to hit?'

"It was in the back of my mind. I actually thought they might walk the bases loaded to get to Joe (Dillon) and give themselves an opportunity to get an out at every base. But I had to prepare myself the best I could to go up there and get a hit."

As for Saito, he was fully aware of the possibility of putting on Longoria. But, whether or not the intention was to pitch around the slugger, the free pass never happened.

"Yes, that was a situation where I was able to walk him,” Saito said through translator Jeff Yamaguchi, “but that’s what happened."

Doubting Francona isn’t the norm – a trend the manager has earned – but in a situation like this, in a game like this, such decisions aren’t going to be swept under the rug. The Red Sox are 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees and four in front of Tampa Bay. The magnifying glass has been brought to the forefront.

It leads us to another “bad” for the Red Sox – the hiccup stumbled upon by the Red Sox’ newest cult hero, reliever Daniel Bard.

Bard had just allowed the first home run of his career (31 1/3 innings), which also broke a streak of 12 straight appearances without giving up an earned run. (During the streak the rookie had issued just four baserunners while striking out 23.) The reliever proceeded to walk Zobrist, leading to Wily Aybar’s bunt.

Bard gathered in the sacrifice attempt and threw wildly by first baseman Victor Martinez and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who was backing up the play. But while many of fans in attendance believed the errant toss had allowed the Rays the lead, Drew had run over from right field to find the ball lodged between two ball bags, prompting the outfielder to raise his arm to get the umpires attention.

Under rule 7.05 (g) the play had to be ruled a ground-rule double, keeping the score tied at 2-2 while putting runners on second and third with nobody out.

“I didn’t know the rule at all. That’s just, being around the game a long time, the ball is in the corner in a bag, you put your hands up and hope for the best,” Drew said.

“There are some rules in some bullpens around the league, like in San Francisco and places like that. But usually we know, hey, if that thing goes into the corner in the bullpen, if you can see it, go get it. Dig it out of there. Tonight, I was running, I was waiting for it to come off the wall, saw it go in the bag. I threw my hands up immediately. The only tough thing was, the umpire took a while to get down there and tell me whether he was going to say safe or dead ball. Once I committed, I had to kind of stick with what I was doing because if I didn’t, it would kind of mess him up a little bit. It all worked out. It got us through 13.”

THE GOOD

Believe or not, there was plenty for the Red Sox.

There were little things like Drew’s alertness when it came to the lodged ball. And bigger issues, like the one overcome immediately after the ruling.

After walking Carlos Pena to load the bases, Bard stepped up and got B.J. Upton to strike out for the first out in the eighth. He then gave way to Manny Delcarmen, who proceeded to escape the jam by fanning Gabe Gross and getting pinch-hitter Pat Burrell on a ground out.

And if that wasn’t good enough Ramon Ramirez did the bases-loaded, nobody-out escape act in the 10th inning. Having put three runners on without retiring a batter in the frame, Ramirez proceeded to get two straight pop ups before striking out Jason Bartlett to end the threat.

“I thought everybody bowed their neck in tough situations and (was) able to fight through tough situations,” said Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who came on for a scoreless inning after Ramirez. “We pretty much showed what we are made of tonight, in a good way. This kind of game nobody deserves to lose.”

One pitcher who certainly didn’t deserve the fate ultimately cast upon his team was Red Sox starter Jon Lester, who was once again good… very good.

For the fifth time this season the lefty struck out at least 10 batters, tying Detroit’s Justin Verlander for the most such games this season. But, most important, Lester allowed just one run on three hits over six innings.

Lester’s counterpart, Garza, was good (7 IP, 2 R), but the Sox starter was slightly better. (As a side-note, he has now gone eight straight starts without allowing a home run, the longest active stretch in the American League.

And even though the Red Sox’ offense managed just three hits off of the Rays’ hurler, both signaled continued positive signs. First came Kevin Youkilis’ second-inning solo blast, his 20th of the season. And then Dustin Pedroia gave the Sox some breathing room with a long ball eerily similar to the one he hit in the first inning off of Garza in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series last season, clearing the left field wall in the sixth.

While much has been rightfully made of Youkilis’ hot streak on the current trip, Pedroia’s consistency this month is noteworthy. Since July 5 the second baseman is hitting .363 with 12 multi-hit games.

THE UGLY

This would be the David Ortiz situation.

The “situation”, of course, is the wait for Ortiz to further address the news that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. Last Thursday the slugger said he would be talking about the case once he found out exactly what substance triggered the positive test.

Prior to the game reporters gathered around the slugger as he sat in front of his locker, sipping on an energy drink. But when Ortiz turned and got up, facing his potential questioners, all he had to say was, “Eh-eh,” insinuating he would not be clarifying his case any time Tuesday.

The delay might be because of the process necessary to attain the information Ortiz seeks. Because the federal government is the only entity that has the detailed information of who tested positive for PEDs in the ’03 process and what they tested positive for, multiple court orders – requested by the Players Association – would be necessary to secure the knowledge Ortiz seeks.

According to a Red Sox spokesperson, it was unclear if Ortiz had requested the union to start the process.

“This is not David,” Francona said. “Right now we’re all on hold.”