ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — If in two months Rick Porcello looks back on Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays as the day his wayward season turned in the right direction, that the Red Sox lost won’t much matter.

An effective Porcello would turn the Red Sox rotation into one capable of winning the World Series and that is what ultimately matters.

But in the immediate context, the 1-0 loss against the Rays was a painful one.

The Sox had only three hits and did not advance a runner beyond first base until an eventful top of the ninth inning that ended with the bases loaded. It was the third loss in the last four games.

“Great game for both sides. Can’t ask for a better pitcher’s duel,’’ Mookie Betts said.

Xander Bogaerts drew a one-out walk against Rays closer Alex Colome and went to third when Mitch Moreland doubled to right field. Bogaerts was back in the lineup for the first since he was hit on the right hand by a pitch in the first inning on Thursday night.

Hanley Ramirez had a chance for heroics but struck out on four pitches, three times swinging fruitlessly at cutters below the strike zone.

The Rays intentionally walked Andrew Benintendi to get to Chris Young. He got ahead in the count 2 and 1 but popped up to shortstop to end the game.

Sox manger John Farrell had Jackie Bradley Jr. available to hit for Young but stayed with the veteran. He and Bradley had similar histories against Colome.

“I wanted to swing at a good pitch and I did,’’ Young said. “Just hit the ball hard somewhere. But I didn’t hit it the way I wanted to.’’

Ramirez is a bigger issue. He is 15 of 78 (.192) with runners in scoring position with 23 strikeouts and has not come close to the production expected. A year after he had 111 RBIs, Ramirez has 34 so far.

“He offered at some breaking balls that finished out of the zone,’’ Farrell said. “He’s trying to stay in the middle of the field but pulled off some pitches.’’

That left Porcello with the loss on a day he allowed six hits and struck out seven without a walk over eight innings.

It was his best start in two months and one of the few times this season the righthander has pitched to the level he did in 2016 when he won the American League Cy Young Award.

“Very tough,’’ Farrell said. “He pitched an outstanding ballgame.’’

Porcello had a 5.05 earned run average on June 17 but has since worked 26⅔ innings over four starts and allowed 11 earned runs.

“I think my last three or four I’ve felt much better. Just overall aggressiveness, the amount of hits and hard-hit balls has definitely decreased. That’s a positive for sure,’’ he said.

It has been less of a mechanical adjustment and more getting back to challenging hitters, working at a quicker tempo, and better mixing his pitches.

“His location is much more consistent,’’ Farrell said. “The shape to his curveball is there. He had four pitches [Saturday] he was throwing extremely well. He’s on a pretty good run right now.’’

The game’s only run came in the second inning.

Steven Souza Jr. and Brad Miller led off with singles. Adeiny Hechavarria grounded to shortstop and the Red Sox turned a double play. Or at least they did until a replay challenge by the Rays resulted in Hechavarria being safe at first.

Porcello hit Shane Peterson with a pitch to load the bases. A fly ball to center field by Jesus Sucre was deep enough for a sacrifice fly.

The Rays were otherwise stymied, leaving seven runners on base. Benintendi aided Porcello in the seventh with a leaping catch at the wall to take extra bases away from Peterson.

Before the ninth inning, the Sox had only four runners reach against Rays starter Alex Cobb (7-6).

Bogaerts singled with two outs in the first. Betts singled with two outs in the third. Moreland reached on an error in the seventh and Sandy Leon walked in the eighth. None advanced.

With the Yankees beating the Brewers, the Sox had their lead in the division trimmed to 3½ games.

The Red Sox face the Rays on Sunday afternoon before going into the All-Star break. David Price faces Chris Archer.

Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @peteabe.