Red Sox Fall Below .500 With Heartbreaking Loss (49-50)

Beckett took the loss

This game was a real heartbreaker for the Red Sox as they fought so hard to take the lead and eventually to tie it back up but were paid back with just more bad pitching. They got off to a very fast start as Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a walk and Pedro Ciriaco knocked a single to right that advanced Ellsbury to third. The Red Sox were in a fantastic position to score some runs, but Dustin Pedroia promptly grounded into a 6-4-3 double play-- allowing the run to score, but nothing else to culminate in the inning. Believe it or not, Josh Beckett actually threw a scoreless first inning, and kept it at 1-0 until the fourth inning. With two outs in the fourth, the Red Sox tacked on another run as Will Middlebrooks got ahold of one and sent it into the bleachers in left. However, the bottom of the fourth brought disappointment as Michael Young led off the inning with a double. He would score on a double to left-center by David Murphy. 

Pedroia had a game-tying blast

However, the inning wasn't done as Yorbit Torrealba advanced Murphy with a single; Murphy would score when Craig Gentry laid down a perfect suicide squeeze to tie the game. It didn't stay tied for long, though, as Ian Kinsler singled on a blooper that just evaded Cody Ross to make it 3-2. The Rangers would only keep that lead for about an inning, until Dustin Pedroia crushed a long home run to left-center to knot things up at 3-3. Josh Beckett pitched a scoreless sixth and was left in for the seventh, a choice Bobby Valentine immediately regretted as the Rangers put runners at the corners with two away. They took the lead on the cheapest way possible-- a wild pitch by Beckett. However, they would've scored anyways as they picked up some insurance with a homer by Nelson Cruz. They would lose by a score on 5-3 in a very disappointing game. 

Bright Spots:

Pedro Ciriaco- 2-4

Dustin Pedroia- 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Will Middlebrooks- 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:

Matt Albers- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R

Adrian Gonzalez- 0-3

Cody Ross- 0-4, 1 K, 1 LOB

Carl Crawford- 0-3, 2 K, 1 LOB

Kelly Shoppach- 0-3, 3 K, 1 LOB

Mike Aviles- 0-3, 1 LOB

Player of the Game:

Will Middlebrooks- Middlebrooks continued to tear up the Rangers in the series as he went 2-4 with a solo home run-- he is now .297/12/43.