Red Sox Fall Sub-.500 In Rout To Rangers (48-49)

Doubront was pounded by Texas

Many Red Sox fans, myself included, were not looking forward to this series against the Rangers, and we were rewarded last night with a rough loss. In the second inning, Jarrod Saltalamacchia pounced on Rangers starter Scott Feldman by knocking a home run to center field and giving the Red Sox an early lead. However, from that point on, it was all, and I mean all, Rangers. After a scoreless top of the third, the Rangers got things started by putting runners at first and second to lead off the third. Elvis Andrus put one on the ground for Dustin Pedroia, but a rare Pedroia error cost the Red Sox two runs as the Rangers took the lead at 2-1. The inning continued as Josh Hamilton drove a pitch down the third base line for an RBI double. The scoring ended on an RBI single by Michael Young, who concluded the scoring in a four run inning.

Saltalamacchia homered, #19

But the Rangers weren't even nearly done, despite Felix Doubront settling down for the next few innings. The Rangers finally got back to business in the sixth inning, after a leadoff walk by Nelson Cruz. Cruz would score when Mike Napoli absolutely hammered a ball to left to make things 6-1. Doubront was taken out of the game here with a 5 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 6 K line, but Franklin Morales didn't fare much better, allowing a double to the first man he faced. That man, Brandon Snyder, would score when Craig Gentry knocked an RBI single to make it 7-1. The train of scoring continued when Ian Kinsler knocked in Gentry with an RBI single of his own. The final run of the inning would come on a Josh Hamilton sacrifice fly. Morales would shut down the Rangers in the seventh, and the Red Sox and Rangers didn't score again as the Rangers took this one 9-1.

Bright Spots:
Mark Melancon- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Jacoby Ellsbury- 2-4
Dustin Pedroia- 3-4
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Will Middlebrooks- 2-4, 1 2B

Dull Spots:
Felix Doubront- 5 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 6 K, L (10-5)
Franklin Morales- 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 K
Carl Crawford- 0-4, 2 K, 2 LOB
Adrian Gonzalez- 0-4, 1 K, 4 LOB
Ryan Sweeney- 0-4, 4 LOB
Mike Aviles- 0-3, 1 K, 1 LOB

Player of the Game:
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- Salty's homer was the only bright spot in this game, and he actually put together a pretty good game, going 2-4 with a homer and double-- he is now .233/19/45 this year.