Boston Red Sox fans deserve to have tomatoes tossed at them for wanting to get rid of Nathan Eovaldi after the 2022 season. Not only was he an integral part of the Texas Rangers run to the World Series championship in 2023, he still has it two years later. Eovaldi shut down the Sox by going 6 innings and allowing just 1 run. Meanwhile the corpse of Lucas Giolito (0-1, 8.38 ERA) got rocked for 6 runs off TEN hits in just 3 2/3 innings by the Rangers offense. The Rangers turned a 1-0 game into 6-0 in the top of the fourth to knock Giolito out. Brennan Bernardino and Sean Newcomb pitched well in relief to hold the Rangers to no further runs, but the Sox got nothing besides a Kristian Campbell rbi offensively. It all added up to a 6-1 Rangers victory at Fenway Park.
The Rangers bumrushed Giolito out of the gate in the top of the first inning as Josh Smith got a base hit to left to start. Wyatt Langford forced him at second but Corey Seager struck out swinging. Joc Pederson singled to center to move Langford to third and Wyatt scored on a wild pitch, but Pederson was thrown out at second to end the inning with Texas up 1-0.
Rangers strike first
Eovaldi got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start. Rafael Devers got a base hit off the glove of Smith then took second on a wild pitch. Alex Bregman struck out swinging and Kristian Campbell grounded out to first to end the inning.
Marcus Semien grounded out to short to start the top of the second but Adolis Garcia walked. Evan Carter hit a bullet to Abraham Toro at first and Abraham doubled off Garcia to end the inning. Wilyer Abreu flied out to left to start the bottom of the second and Trevor Story grounded out to short. Toro flied out to left to end the inning.
Jonah Heim got a base hit to center to start the top of the third but Josh Jung struck out swinging. Smith flied out to left and Langford grounded out to second to end the inning. Carlos Narvaez struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third and Ceddanne Rafaela lined out to center. Duran grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Rangers finished off Giolito in the top of the fourth as Seager hit a ground rule double into the right field stands to start. Pederson followed with a ground rule double in almost the same spot to score Seager. Semien got a base hit to right to move Pederson to third and Joc scored on the sac fly to right by Garcia. Carter got a base hit in the hole at short as Sox fans were screaming at manager Alex Cora to yank Gio. Cora just stood there as Heim got a base hit to center to score Semien but Jung flied out to right. Smith got a base hit to right to score Carter and Langford got a base hit to center to score Heim. Cora woke up from his nap, stumbled out of the dugout and finally pulled Giolito after the game was out of reach. Lucas allowed 6 runs in just 3 2/3 innings off 10 hits and a walk while striking out 2. Brennan Bernardino came in and froze Seager for strike three but it was 6-0 Texas.
Devers walked to start the bottom of the fourth but Bregman lined out to left. Campbell struck out swinging and Abreu grounded out to second to end the inning.
Pederson bunted foul for strike three to start the top of the fifth but Semien singled to left. Garcia singled to right but Garcia struck out swinging. Heim struck out swinging to end the inning. Story struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth but Toro got a base hit to left....only to get thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. That proved costly as Narvaez doubled to right but Rafaela lined out to first to end the inning.
Sean Newcomb came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Jung lined out to short to start. Smith walked and took second on a passed ball, but Langford struck out swinging. Seager grounded out to second to end the inning. Duran struck out swinging to start the bottom of the sixth and Devers did the same. Bregman doubled to right and Campbell got a base hit to center to score Alex. Abreu lined out to left to end the inning with the Sox down 6-1.
Campbell refused to give up
Blaine Crim pinch hit for Pederson to start the top of the seventh and he grounded out to third to start. Semien struck out swinging but Garcia beat out a roller to third. Carter got a base hit to center but Heim grounded out to first to end the inning. Shawn Armstrong came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Story struck out swinging to start. Toro lined out to left and Narvaez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Jung took strike three to start the top of the eighth but Smith singled to left. Langford forced Smith at second and a wild pitch moved Wyatt to second. Seager grounded out to first to end the inning. Rafaela popped up to first to start the bottom of the eighth and Robert Garcia came in to face Duran. Jarren took strike three and Devers struck out swinging to end the inning.
Crim flied out to right to start the top of the ninth and Semien flied out to center. Garcia singled off the glove of Story and Abreu had to make a great diving catch to rob Carter of extra bases to end the inning. Yeoman's effort by Newcomb to toss 4 scoreless innings to save the bullpen for tomorrow. Old pal Chris Martin came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Bregman popped up to second to start. Campbell took strike three but Abreu got a base hit to left. Abreu took second on defensive indifference but Story struck out swinging to end the game. The Rangers had won it 6-1.
Rangers win
Jackass Giolito
Jackass of The Night is Lucas Giolito. He got hammered for 6 runs in just 3 2/3 innings off 10 hits and a walk.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Abraham Toro was 1 for 3.
Carlos Narvaez was 1 for 3.
Brennan Bernardino tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Sean Newcomb pitched 4 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Trevor Story was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Alex Bregman was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Kristian Campbell was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Two games in a row you have to question what Sox manager Alex Cora is thinking. Putting a rookie in Campbell as your cleanup hitter was stupid enough but for a manager notoriously to a fault for yanking guys too early when pitching well, he sure left in Giolito to rot. It was obvious by the third run that he had nothing but Cora just stood there as he allowed 3 more runs to put the game out of reach. Not that the bats did anything against Eovaldi but if the game was a lot closer, maybe the Sox get lucky if Texas plays a bit tighter. As it was, the game was essentially over in the top of the fourth inning. Giolito looked like garbage but he's coming off UCL surgery suffered last March. Chris Sale had TJ surgery in February 2020 and didn't come back until August the following year. Hopefully Giolito can work himself back into shape. It was a bad loss in a season full of them and once again, if Cora hadn't won that ring in 2018 he would have been fired years ago. The loss dropped the Sox to 18-19, 2.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night when Tanner Houck goes one on one with Tyler Mahle. The game begins at 6:40 PM at Fenway Park.
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