Red Sox Wrap: Boston Can’t Keep Up As Rangers Scatter 17 Hits

The Red Sox couldn’t keep the momentum going.

After a 10-hit, 6-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday, Boston was on the losing side of a dominant effort Saturday. The Rangers scattered 17 hits in a 10-1 win, just their second on the road since the All-Star break. The Red Sox made five errors on the night.

The Rangers improved to 43-80, as the Red Sox dropped to 70-55.

Here’s how it all went down at Fenway Park:

GAME IN A WORD
Opposite.

On Friday, it was the Red Sox offense that posted double-digit hits en route to a dominant victory. And on Saturday, it was everything besides that.

ON THE BUMP
— Eduardo Rodriguez got off to a hot start in the first inning with a pair of strikeouts. He did allow a single, but he had defense behind him for the third out. His second inning didn’t go as smoothly.

After he allowed Nathaniel Lowe to reach on a leadoff double, he walked Yohel Pozo and gave up an RBI single to Nick Solak to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Defense got the next two outs, but Boston’s old friend Brock Holt launched a two-out line drive to center to bring home a second run for the Rangers.

— Adolis Garcia led off the third inning with a double, but Rodriguez recorded a strikeout in the frame. In the fourth inning, he allowed a pair of doubles in between what should have been an inning-ending bloop by Brock Holt. But that hit brought in another run when the ball deflected off of Rodriguez’s foot and Kiké Hernández couldn’t make the throw to home.

With the game at 4-1, Rodriguez was yanked in favor of Hirokazu Sawamura. But when another runner scored, the book closed on Rodriguez’s outing with five runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings.

— Sawamura finished out the inning and came away with one hit and one strikeout. Garrett Richards got the fifth, and he gave up an RBI double to give the Rangers a 6-1 lead.

— In the sixth, Hansel Robles allowed a single and intentionally walked Lowe, but had defense behind him for three outs. Adam Ottavino came out for the seventh and also recorded a single and a walk, though he made up for the base on balls by picking off the runner at first.

— Martin Pérez got the ball for the eighth inning and things quickly went from bad to worse. He gave up a total of four runs on a wild pitch and three hits — though he wasn’t helped by back-to-back errors from the defense — to make it a 10-1 game with two series of at-bats to go for Boston.

— Austin Davis closed things out with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Red Sox Notes: Lopsided Loss To Rangers ‘Embarrassing,’ ‘Unacceptable’

Aug 21, 2021

IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— On Friday, the Red Sox were off to a hot start when they opened their first three innings at the plate with doubles. Not so much Saturday, as they went down in order in the first.

— J.D. Martinez singled in the second, and he was joined on the bases by Hunter Renfroe, who walked. Christian Vázquez had a two-out single, but Martinez was tagged out at the plate.

— The third inning showed signs of life as Bobby Dalbec doubled and Hernández singled, but Rafael Devers flew out into an impressive double play by center fielder DJ Peters, and Xander Bogaerts grounded out.

— Martinez got on base with a walk in the fourth but he was stranded. The side went down in order in the fifth, then Martinez got a chance again with two on in the sixth but he struck out on four pitches.

— The Rangers defense put together three outs in a row in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

TWEET OF THE GAME
This one was historic, though not in the way you’d want it to be.

UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Rangers are slated to conclude their three-game series at Fenway Park on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. ET. However, as Hurricane Henri approaches New England, that could change.