The Rays’ Carlos Pena heads back to the dugout after clouting a two-run homer off Tim Wakefield in the first inning last night. Scoring ahead of him on the blast was B.J. Upton, right.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — Completely dismantled.

The Tampa Bay Rays have utterly exploited the weaknesses in the Red Sox’ lineup.

Rays manager Joe Maddon and his staff obviously did their homework in preparation for the American League Championship Series. It’s as though Tampa’s advance scouting department handed over a blueprint of how to bring the defending world champions to their knees.

The Rays were the models of consistency during the regular season and they have not wavered in the postseason. The Red Sox, however, have dealt with injuries and slumps, and the current lineup changes just haven’t worked.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona repeats himself time and again, saying he’ll put the best possible team on the field on a given day in order to give the club its best chance to win. It sounds simplistic and fundamental, but such changes were needed for Game Four last night at Fenway Park.

“We’re looking for a spark,” Francona said prior to the game.

The Red Sox didn’t get it. They got a dud.

Tampa received another solid starting pitching performance, this time from Andy Sonnanstine, who worked 7 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits as the Rays trashed the Red Sox, 13-4.

“It was tough,” Francona said of the lopsided defeat. “Sitting through that wasn’t a whole lot of fun. We’ve been on the other side, but when it happens to you, you’ve got to get through it the best you can. We’ll need to regroup as fast as we can.”

Tampa has taken complete advantage of Boston’s starting pitching, especially Josh Beckett in Game Two, when the Rays eventually won in dramatic fashion in 11 innings. Then they completely embarrassed Boston’s ace Jon Lester in Game Three, and they had their way with veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield last night.

Wakefield had not pitched since Sept. 28 and it showed.

He lasted only 2 2/3 innings — the shortest postseason outing by a Red Sox pitcher since Bronson Arroyo last just two innings in Game Three of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees — and allowed five runs on six hits. Wakefield also allowed three home runs, including back-to-back round-trippers by the Rays’ Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria in the first inning. Willy Aybar then crushed a two-run shot in the third.

It was also Wakefield’s first postseason appearance since his Game Four loss against the Indians in the 2007 ALCS. Last night also could have have been his last appearance with the Sox.

“We didn’t get out of the gates like we wanted to,” said Red Sox catcher Kevin Cash. “You have to tip your hat to those guys. They come in with a good approach. It wasn’t a matter of Wake pitching behind. They swung at the first thing they saw.”

What has gone wrong for the Red Sox?

It all starts at the top.

Jacoby Ellsbury has struggled in the ALCS with a 0-for-14 performance that forced Francona to replace him at the top of the order with J.D. Drew, who went 0-for-5.

Without the Red Sox getting on base in front of Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz, the Rays’ pitching staff has been able to bob and weave its way around the rest of the order with relative ease. And Ortiz continues to struggle in this series, having gone 1-for-14 thus far.

While the Red Sox have struggled, the Rays have been fundamentally sound in every aspect of the game. It starts with pitching, and Tampa has plenty of it.

The Rays’ rotation and their bullpen have done a solid job keeping the Sox at bay. Other than Game Two starter Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza and Sonnanstine have dominated Boston’s lifeless offense.

“It was one of our more complete games,” said Maddon last night. “In all facets. There were a lot of really good things and I’m very pleased. … I’ve really liked the way our guys have gone about their business.”

For all the talk about how the Rays have found the chink in the Sox’ armor, Boston has been in this situation before.

The Red Sox were down 3-0 to the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS before they mounted one of the greatest comebacks in sports history en route to their first World Series title in 86 years.

Boston trailed the Indians in the ALCS last October, 3-1, but rallied to win before sweeping the Rockies in the Fall Classic.

“It definitely doesn’t hurt,” said Crisp referring to the club’s experience of playing from behind. “You take what you can from that and use it to your advantage — mentally. We just need to come out and have fun, play the game we know how to play and keep those guys quiet from an offensive standpoint. Being veterans, I think we’re able to have that short-term memory.”

Although another comeback is possible, the Rays are doing everything right and momentum is clearly in their favor. It’s unlikely they’ll fold under pressure at this point, especially just one victory away from their first trip to the World Series.

“We just have to play our game and do what we’ve been doing,” said the Rays’ Carl Crawford. “We need to play good defense, get good pitching and solid hitting. We’ve just got to play our game.”

The Red Sox are still looking for theirs.

jmcdonal@projo.com