The Boston bats woke up just enough Tuesday night to take advantage of a stellar outing by Clay Buchholz and squeak out a last-minute victory over the Rangers.
To get a series win in the finale Wednesday night, the Red Sox will likely have to wake up a bit more, as the dangerous Texas offense will not stay dormant for long.
Jacoby Ellsbury has continued to be the hot hand since returning from the disabled list a week and a half ago. He’s had multi-hit games in four of his last seven, batting .346 and scoring five runs. Despite only having one stolen base and one home run on the season, it seems safe to say the center fielder is fully recovered from the subluxed shoulder he suffered in April.
Dustin Pedroia has also hit well of late. He’s had a hit in five of the six games he’s played since his return from a thumb injury for a .292 average, crossing the plate twice and not striking out once.
Meanwhile, the Rangers’ hottest hitter is a tossup between Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus. The formidable double play duo has been equally as potent with the bat in recent days — Kinsler has collected five hits and a homer in the past four days to go along with three RBIs and four runs, while Andrus is in the midst of a 12-game hitting streak during which he’s batted .313, driven in five runs and scored seven times.
Here are the Red Sox and Rangers temperatures for July 25.
Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, 78
Dustin Pedroia, 76
Kelly Shoppach, 75
Adrian Gonzalez, 72
Will Middlebrooks, 71
Nick Punto, 70
Cody Ross, 67
Mike Aviles, 66
Ryan Sweeney, 65
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 64
Pedro Ciriaco, 61
Daniel Nava, 55
Carl Crawford, 50
Rangers
Ian Kinsler, 82
Elvis Andrus, 82
David Murphy, 79
Craig Gentry, 77
Adrian Beltre, 73
Yorvit Torrealba, 72
Mike Napoli, 72
Alberto Gonzalez, 69
Nelson Cruz, 62
Brandon Snyder, 61
Michael Young, 61
Leonys Martin, 59
Josh Hamilton, 48
