Red Sox manager Alex Cora successfully argued to get Rays reliever Jason Adam removed from the game in the ninth inning Thursday. But Boston still lost 7-5 here at Fenway Park.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora argues with umpire Alex Tosi after the Rays pitching coach came to the mound despite the team having no mound visits

“It wasn’t confusing and they (the umpires) messed it up,” Cora said.

The Red Sox had runners at the corners with two outs in the ninth. Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder headed out to the mound to visit with Adam. But Tampa had already run out of mound visits.

According to the rules, “A manager or coach who crosses the foul line on his way to the mound after his team has exhausted its mound visits must make a pitching change, unless a pitcher has not pitched to the minimum of three consecutive batters.”

Cora wanted Adam, who had faced the minimum, removed immediately so that Rays reliever Erasmo Ramírez would have to enter the game without being fully warmed up. But the umpire crew had the rule reviewed in New York, giving enough time for Ramírez to warm up in the bullpen before the pitching change.

“They had time to warm up Erasmo there in the bullpen,” Cora said. “You’ve got to throw him out right away. He comes in, he gets eight (warmup) pitches and then he goes. That’s the way the rule goes.”

Ramírez got Romy Gonzalez to ground back to the mound for the game’s final out.

“By the time I went out there and argued, the rule check, he has time to warm up,” Cora said. “It was probably going to be the same outcome, whatever. But not to be prepared for a big league game, just eight pitches and go to battle, it’s tough.”

Why were the umpires initially going to let Adam stay in the game? What was the explanation given to Cora?

“That they stopped him (Snyder) before he got to the mound,” Cora said. “They went to the rule check and from New York they decided yeah, he had no visit (remaining).”

Cora added, “Basically they (the umpire crew) messed it up. New York corrected it but at that time, it took like seven minutes.”