G117: Rangers 10, Red Sox 9 (11)

Red Sox - 001 700 100 00 -  9 13  1
Rangers - 110 220 210 01 - 10 17  1

Nelson Cruz crushed Tim Wakefield's only pitch to deep left to give the Rangers the win in a game Boston at one point led 8-2.

After Boston scored seven times in the fourth -- the inning being kicked off by three consecutive home runs from David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre, and J.D. Drew -- the Sox bats were pretty quiet.

Drew clubbed a second dong, in the seventh, but the Texas pen retired the last 11 Red Sox hitters and 14 of the last 15. At the same time, the Rangers' bats were clawing back to tie the game against Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard.

The Royals beat the Yankees 4-3 and the Orioles beat the Rays 5-0. So the night wasn't a total fucking waste.

Josh Beckett / Tommy Hunter

Ellsbury, CF
Scutaro, SS
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Drew, RF
Lowell, 1B
Kalish, LF
Lowrie, 2B

Following three nice starts coming off the disabled list, Beckett was mauled by the Yankees last Sunday. A few readers wondered why Beckett pitches so badly against the Yankees. I thought it might have been a matter of perception, because I know there have been some gems along the way, but Beckett has been the worst regular season starter against New York in the last half-century (minimum 20 starts). It's not even close.

But he is facing Texas tonight. So let's rebound.

Also:

Orioles/Rays, 7
Yankees/Royals at 8