G97: Rangers 9, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 010 000 000 - 1 10  2
Rangers - 004 005 00x - 9 11  0

Five of the first six Rangers to bat in the third inning against Doubront (5-8-6-3-6, 111) reached base, and four of them scored. Texas added five more runs in the sixth to cruise to an easy win.

With Texas down 1-0, Craig Gentry began the third with a single, and Ian Kinsler walked. Elvis Andrus grounded a single up the middle that Dustin Pedroia gloved near second base and threw over Adrian Gonzalez's head at first. Two runs scored, giving Texas the lead. Josh Hamilton doubled home Andrus and (after Adrian Beltre flew out) Michael Young singled in Hamilton.

In the sixth, Doubront walked Nelson Cruz and gave up a two-run homer to Mike Napoli. (Actually, Doubront struck out Napoli on three pitches, but home plate umpire Bill Wilke called what was nearly a pitch down the middle "ball one" and Doubront could not finish Napoli off. Instead, Napoli finished Doubront off, as his homer sent Felix to the showers.) Franklin Morales came in and allowed a double and two singles. Those three hits, along with an error in left field by Carl Crawford, lead to three more runs.

Boston's run came via Jarrod Saltalamacchia's solo home run in the second inning. The Red Sox banged out hits in seven of the nine innings (leaving eight men on base), but those hits were spread out fairly evenly. Feldman's performance (7-7-1-0-5, 105) was exceptional, considering that he had not pitched in 14 days (since July 8).

The Red Sox (48-49) slipped under .500 for the first time since June 16.

Scott Feldman / Felix Doubront

Ellsbury, CF
Crawford, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Ross, DH
Saltalamacchia, C
Middlebrooks, 3B
Sweeney, RF
Aviles, SS

Boston begins a six-game road trip with a three-game series in Texas, before moving on to New York. The Red Sox are a combined 1-7 against the Rangers and Yankees this year, and have been outscored 73-48. Boston is 5-11 in Arlington over the last three seasons.

Texas (56-38) leads the AL West by five games. They lead the AL in scoring runs, at 5.03 runs/game; Boston is third at 4.99. The Rangers have the highest team batting average and on-base percentage in the league, and are second in slugging.