The good news was the Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia Sixers in Game 2 of their second round NBA playoff series but the bad news was the Boston Red Sox lost to the Texas Rangers. It looks like David Price (2-4, 5.11 ERA) sucks again. The Texas Rangers ate him alive and put enough runs on the board to coast the rest of the game. The offense did manage to put 5 runs on the board but it wasn't enough as the Rangers smoked the Sox 11-5 at Arlington Park.
Mike Minor got the start in the top of the first inning and Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to left to start. Hanley Ramirez grounded out to third and JD Martinez flied out to right to end the inning. Price began his horrid start by striking out Delino DeShields Jr to begin. Shin-Soo Choo grounded out to third and Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined out to center to end the inning.
Xander Bogaerts led off the top of the second with a double but was stranded as Rafael Devers watched strike three go by. Eduardo Nunez flied out to center and Blake Swihart flied out to right to end the inning. The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the second although Nomar Mazara lined out to center to start. Joey Gallo was hit with a pitch and Jurickson Profar tripled him home. Renato Nunez hit a sac fly to score Profar and Robinson Chirinos whiffed to end the inning with the Rangers up 2-0.
The Sox got a run back in the top of the third inning although Christian Vazquez whiffed to start. Jackie Bradley Jr hit one up the elevator shaft but Mr. Mookie continued his hot streak by swatting his 12th home run of the year to cut the lead. Ramirez walked and Martinez singled but Bogaerts flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.
Price failed to hold the fort in the bottom of the third inning. Ryan Rua grounded out to third but DeShields singled. Choo hit a routine grounder to Devers and he threw his glove at it before taking off his hat and throwing it in the air for an error. Price should have been out of the inning when Kiner popped up but Mazara doubled home both runners. Gallo whiffed to end the inning but it was now 4-1.
The Sox refused to go quietly in the top of the fourth inning. Devers singled and Nunez singled as well. DeShields bobbled the ball and Devers took third with Nunez taking off for second....OUT! Not so fast! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged the call and the umpires overturned it, safe at second. Swihart walked to load the bases and Vazquez blooped a single over the head of Profar to score Devers. At this point the Sox were down 2 with the bases loaded and nobody out. As usual things went to hell as JBJ whiffed and all Mr. Mookie could do was score Nunez with a sac fly. Ramirez grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox still trailing 4-3.
As if he was offended by the Sox rally, Price gave it all back and more in the bottom of the fourth inning. Profar drew a walk but Nunez popped up to first. Chirinos singled and Rua singled home Profar. DeShields singled to load the bases but Price got a huge out by striking out Choo. One strike away from getting out of the inning...Kiner walked to drive in a run to chase Price. David lasted just 3 2/3 innings, gave up 6 runs (at the time) and left the bases loaded. Nice going. Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez came in to stop the bleeding and instead threw a wild pitch to score a run. Then Mazara blasted a 3 run home run halfway to Mississippi to ice the game. Gallo grounded out to first to end the inning but was all over, 10-3 Rangers.
The Sox did try to start a rally in the top of the fifth when Martinez singled and Bogaerts walked. That ended quick as Devers erased Bogaerts on a force, Nunez struck out and Swihart grounded into a force to end the inning. Profar drew another walk to start the bottom of the fifth but Nunez whiffed. Chirinos hit a routine double play ball to Bogaerts who suddenly turned around and threw the ball over the head of an unsuspecting Vazquez at home for an error. Sox manager Alex Cora threw his hands up and replaced Velazquez who gave Bogaerts a glare as he walked off the mound. The newly called up Marcus Walden came in and he struck out Rua before getting DeShields to ground into a force to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the sixth as Vazquez grounded out to short, JBJ lined out to second and Mr. Mookie grounded out to first to end the inning. Choo singled to start the bottom of the sixth but was thrown out at third by Betts trying to stretch a single by Kiner. Mazara grounded out to first and Gallo struck out to end the inning.
Jose Leclerc took over for Minor in the top of the seventh and Ramirez grounded out to short to start. Martinez whiffed but Kiner threw a ground ball by Bogaerts away for an error. Devers grounded out to end the inning. Walden finally struck out Profar in the bottom of the seventh and Nunez hit a routine grounder to Bogaerts. This time Bogaerts fielded the ball and threw to third base instead of first for another error. Chirinos made the Sox pay by doubling home Nunez. Rua grounded back to the mound and Deshields lined out to center to end the inning but it was 11-3 Rangers.
Believe it or not the Sox had one last rally left in them in the top of the eighth inning. Nunez flied out to right but Swihart walked. Vazquez singled but JBJ whiffed. Mr. Mookie doubled in both runners to chase Leclerc. Tony Barnette got Ramirez to ground out to second to end the inning but it was 11-5.
Swihart moved out of the DH spot to catch the bottom of the eighth with Tzu-Wei Lin taking over for Bogaerts. Choo singled but Kiner banged into a double play. Mazara whiffed to end the inning. Good work by Walden to limit the damage.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt to end the game in the top of the ninth. Martinez grounded out to short, Lin grounded out to second and Devers grounded out to short to end the game. The Rangers had won 11-5.
Jackass of the Night is David Price. He allowed NINE runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. He was horrendous.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with another home run and 4 total rbi's.
JD Martinez was 2 for 5.
Blake Swihart walked twice in four plate appearances and scored a run.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Marcus Walden tossed 3 2/3 innings and allowed just an unearned run.
The Bad:
Tzu-Wei Lin was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Hector Velazquez gave up a run and allowed inherited runners to score in 2/3 of an inning
The Ugly:
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 but drew a walk.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a walk but made 2 costly errors.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 5 with an error but scored a run.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox are in trouble if Price is either hurt or just plain sucks the way Eduardo Rodriguez and Drew Pomeranz both struggle and the offense seems completely incompetent with Chris Sale on the mound. That was a good old fashioned ass kicking and it was well deserved when you give up extra outs and can't make the pitch when it counts. The sad thing is a normal pitched game would have won the way Betts has been swinging the bat lately. The loss drops the Sox to 22-9, just 1 game ahead of the New York Yankees who just crushed the Houston Astros 3 out of 4 games. Tomorrow night Rick Porcello (4-0, 2.23 ERA) goes for the Sox up against the ageless Bartolo Colon at 8 PM at Arlington Park.
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