G68: Rangers 9, Red Sox 5

Rangers - 012 123 000 - 9  9  0
Red Sox - 012 000 101 - 5  9  2

Hunter Pence was credited with a two-run, inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning when right fielder Brock Holt could not catch his high fly down the right field line. Holt ran over to the short wall and leapt into the stands for the ball, but it eluded his glove. Holt, perhaps assuming the ball fell into the stands, lay on the top of the wall on his stomach, not moving.

The ball had not landed in the crowd. It caromed back towards right-center, coming to a stop near the 380 sign at the right field end of the visiting team's bullpen. No one ran over to retrieve the ball - at one point, a man in a blue shirt stood up and peered down at the lonely baseball - and Pence jogged across the plate with perhaps the most boring ITPHR you will ever see. The Rangers led 9-3.

Before that slice of weirdness happened, though, Andrew Benintendi and manager Alex Cora were ejected in the bottom of the fifth (the first Red Sox ejections of the season). Benintendi grounded an 0-1 pitch to shortstop and cursed as he turned and headed to the dugout after he was thrown out. First base umpire Vic Carapazza threw him out of the game with a slight, off-handed, flipping motion (far from the grand gesture umpires usually employ) and Benintendi had no clue he had been tossed until he was in the dugout. [Angel Hernandez: "He violated the rules of the game. I'm not at liberty to discuss anything until I submit the report tomorrow."]

Benintendi came out squawking, as did Cora, who berated both Carapazza and plate umpire Angel Hernandez before he, too, was ejected. (For good measure, Hernandez (perhaps worried that he had not made enough of an ass of himself with his ball-strike calls) threw Rangers manager Chris Woodward out of the game in the next inning.)

Darwinzon Hernandez (3-3-4-5-7, 86) had a pretty strange line. He struck out the side in the first, all swinging, but his two walks in the second both scored on Rougned Odor's ground-rule double to right. Hernandez walked the bases loaded in the third before giving up a two-out single to center. He was pulled after the first two hitters reached base in the fourth (infield error, single).

The Red Sox matched the Rangers inning for inning initially. Xander Bogaerts's 13th home run tied the game at 1-1 and Rafael Devers's two-run triple re-tied the game at 3-3. Then Texas took over. Michael Chavis doubled to begin the seventh and J.D. Martinez knocked him in with a two-out two-bagger. Mookie Betts homered in the ninth.

I'll say here what I posted in the game thread: It ain't happening this year. With 42% of the regular season behind them, it's hard to see the Red Sox, now 34-34, as even a wild card team. (They are three games out of the WC race at the moment.) The chances of both the MFY and Rays tanking is remote and Boston is one of seven* non-first place teams within 4.5 games of the top wild card spot. If I'm being honest with myself, this dismal situation does not make me inclined to devote many of my evenings (or late afternoons) to them.

*: Tampa Bay and New York are tied for first (41-25), but I included one of them in the seven non-division-leading teams, since the season will not end with them tied.

AL East: The Yankees and Mets split a day-night doubleheader. The MFY won the afternoon game 12-5 and the Mets took the nightcap 10-4, chasing James Paxton after only 2.2 innings. The Rays lost to the Athletics 4-3. Boston is 8 GB of both Tampa Bay and New York.

Ariel Jurado / Darwinzon Hernandez

Betts, RF
Benintendi, CF
Martinez, DH
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Holt, LF
Vázquez, C
Hernández, 2B
Chavis, 1B

Darwinzon Hernandez made his debut in the second game of an April 23 doubleheader, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings. This is the 22-year-old left-hander's first major league start. Hernandez was called up because Ryan Brasier was placed on bereavement/family medical emergency leave.

AL East: Mets/MFY (G1: MFY 12, Mets 5; G2: 7 PM); Athletics/Rays, 7 PM.