Red Sox option struggling Rodriguez to minors

The pitching woes refuse to relent for the scuffling Boston Red Sox, as the club optioned left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to Triple-A Pawtucket following another rough outing Monday in Tampa Bay, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. A corresponding move has not yet been announced.

Rodriguez, who impressed over 21 starts as a rookie last year, has stumbled through a brutal, injury-marred sophomore season, spending the first two months of the campaign on the disabled list, and posting a 6.41 ERA with a 1.46 ERA in five starts since coming back in late May. At Tropicana Field on Monday, it was more of the same, with the 23-year-old coughing up nine runs - five of them in the first inning - and recording just eight outs in a 13-7 loss to the Rays, who had lost 11 straight coming into their series opener with Boston.

Related: Watch: Pedroia barks at scuffling Rodriguez during mound visit

"The bottom line is, (Rodriguez) is capable of more. Were capable of more," Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters after an impromptu team following the loss. "We need to get better, and we had a chance to share that here after the game (Monday). We collectively have to get better."

Now 9-15 in June, having dropped six of their last eight games, the Red Sox are 4.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the American League East, and much of the blame for their recent skid rests squarely on the rotation. No team in the American League has received less WAR from their starters this month, and only Steven Wright owns an ERA below 4.76 over the last two weeks.