It was bound to happen but Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora's inability to trust his pitchers led to a second straight loss to the last place Texas Rangers. Garrett Richards allowed just 1 run through 5 innings but had thrown 95 pitches. Cora pulled him and after Darwinzon Hernandez shut down the Rangers in the sixth, the floodgates opened. Garrett Whitlock allowed his first run of the season and the Rangers led by old friend Brock Holt rallied for four runs against Adam Ottavino and Matt Barnes in the bottom of the eighth. On the other side of the ball, the Sox bats only scratched out 3 runs while leaving men on base all game. The bottom of the order were allowed to hit in the ninth and Rangers closer Ian Kennedy laughed as he slammed the door on the 5-3 Rangers win at Globe Life Park.
Foltynewicz got the ball in the top of the first inning and Kike Hernandez flied out to left to start. Alex Verdugo flied out to right and JD Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning. Richards got the ball in the bottom of the first and Willie Calhoun led off with a base hit to center. Nick Solak struck out swinging but Nate Lowe walked. A wild pitch moved both runners over but Richards recovered to strike out both Joey Gallo and Adolis Garcia swinging to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second as Solak lost a pop up by Xander Bogaerts in the sun for a "single" to start. Rafael Devers lined out to right but Marwin Gonzalez doubled to center. Hunter Renfroe scored Bogaerts with a grounder to second but Franchy Cordero grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Richards cruised in the bottom of the second as David Dahl struck out swinging to start. Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out to short and Brock "The Hitman" Holt grounded out to first to end the inning.
Kevin Plawecki struck out swinging to start the top of the third but Hernandez was plunked. Verdugo singled to left but Martinez banged into a double play to end the inning. Jonah Heim grounded out to third to start the bottom of the third but Calhoun singled to right. Solak struck out swinging and Lowe took strike three on the outside corner to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fourth when Bogaerts struck his 5th home run of the season to increase the lead. Devers walked and took second on a wild pitch, but Gonzalez struck out swinging. Renfroe flied out to center to move Devers to third but Cordero popped up to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
The Rangers struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Gallo doubled to center to start. Gallo moved to third on the Garcia fly out to center and scored on the grounder to first by Dahl. Kiner dropped a base hit to third and took off for second. Plawecki's throw bounced in front of the mound and ricocheted out of the building for an error to move Kiner to third, but Holt popped up to left to end the inning with the Rangers down 2-1.
Plawecki atoned for his error with a double down the left field line to begin the top of the fifth. Hernandez caught a break when he hit one up the elevator shaft and Heim looked to have caught it only to have dropped the ball on the transfer. The umpires ruled it a dropped ball and Rangers manager Chris Woodward stormed out of the dugout screaming to argue only to be told to get lost. Hernandez got rung up for strike three at the ankles in a makeup call anyway. Verdugo moved Plawecki to third with a base hit right in front of Gallo but Martinez hit into another double play to end the inning.
Richards struck out Heim swinging to begin the bottom of the fifth before Calhoun hit a flare to Verdugo. Solak grounded out to third to end the inning. That wss it for Richards who lasted just 5 innings but allowed just 1 run while striking out seven batters.
Bogaerts lined a base hit to center to start the top of the sixth but was erased on a force by Devers. Gonzalez missed a hit and run sign and Devers was easily thrown out trying to steal. Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Darwinzon Hernandez came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and things got testy for the Rangers. Lowe took strike three to start and Gallo got rung up on a pitch on the bottom of the inside corner. Gallo told home plate umpire Brian O'Nora some very unkind words and got thrown out of the game. Woodard bolted out of the dugout with a six shooter loaded with blanks and opened fire at O'Nora. Woodward got the heave-ho too and was escorted out of the building by armed security. Garcia beat out a tapper that Devers couldn't field but Dahl grounded out to first to end the inning.
Brett Martin came in to pitch the top of the seventh with Eli White in for Gallo and Renfroe greeted them with a base hit to right. Cordero dropped down a bunt to move Renfroe to second but all Plawecki could do was advance Hunter to third with a grounder to short. Hernandez delivered with an inside-out base hit to right to score Renfroe to increase the lead. Verdugo lined out to center to end the inning but it was 3-1 Sox.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in for the bottom of the seventh and gave up his first run of the season when Kiner smashed a change-up that didn't change a mile to cut the lead. Holt popped up to center but Heim hit a bullet to center for a base hit. Calhoun popped up to Cordero and The Lock blew away Solak to end the inning but the Rangers cut the lead 3-2.
Josh Sborz came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Martinez went down hacking to start. Bogaerts grounded out to third and Devers fouled a pitch off that hit Heim in the neck. Heim had to be carried out on a stretcher and replaced by Jose Trevino. Devers struck out swinging anyway to end the inning. Adam Ottavino came in to crap his pants in the bottom of the eighth as he walked Lowe to start. Lowe swiped second but White grounded out to short. Garcia flied out to right but Dahl sliced a base hit to left to score Lowe to tie the game. Kiner walked and that was it for Ottavino. Matt Barnes came in to stop the bleeding but old friend Hitman Holt lashed a base hit to right that Verdugo bobbled. Both runners scored when Hernandez botched the throw back and the Rangers took the lead. Trevino grounded out to short to end the inning with the Rangers ahead 5-3.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the ninth against Rangers closer Ian Kennedy as Gonzalez flied out to left to start. Renfroe popped up to first and Cordero flied out to left to end the game. The Rangers had beaten the Sox 5-3.
Jackass of the Night is Adam Ottavino. He was charged with 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning to take the loss.
The Good:
Kike Hernandez was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch and an rbi.
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4.
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with a home run and 2 total runs scored.
Kevin Plawecki was 1 for 3.
Garrett Richards tossed 5 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 7.
Darwinzon Hernandez pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 3.
Garrett Whitlock allowed a home run in the seventh inning.
Matt Barnes allowed the go-ahead runs to score in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 but walked.
Marwin Gonzalez was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
That loss was strictly on Cora's inability to trust his pitchers. Richards was cruising after 5 innings and Hernandez pitched well in the sixth. Whitlock, Ottavino and Barnes allowed 4 runs in 2 innings and combined with the 4 runs in 3 innings yesterday, that's 8 runs allowed by the Boston bullpen against the LAST PLACE Texas Rangers the last two games. It was bound to happen as you can't keep on pulling starters early and expect the hitters not to figure out the pitchers. Whitlock was due for a bad game but Ottavino's meltdown cost them. Walking the leadoff man is the kiss of death and the Sox died today. On the other side of the ball, the Sox may have to call up Michael Chavis or Jarred Duran sooner rather than later because the bottom of the order isn't just bad, its REALLY bad. Cordero, Renfroe, Gonzalez, Hernandez and Dalbec have been almost useless and the Sox aren't going to continue to win games 3-2 or 2-1 like in the Mets series. Even the last place Rangers beat around the Sox pitchers for 13 runs the last two games. Still, as mentioned yesterday, at least the problems are fixable. The loss dropped the Sox to 17-12, 1.5 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox come home to face the slumping Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night. The undefeated Nick Pivetta (3-0, 2.81 ERA) takes on Captain TBD of the Tigers at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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