The Red Sox just came off a very disappointing series against the Twins and were set to face the red hot Rangers and their new phenom pitcher Yu Darvish. The Sox had Aaron Cook on the mound who in his last few outings has started well, but ended the games by giving up homeruns and often. So, would the Sox even have a chance? They would and would end up winning with ease.
Cook showed that promise he had when he first joined the rotation in his performance last night. Cook gave up a single run in the 2nd when he gave up a leadoff double to Nellie Cruz and then an RBI single to former Sox David Murphy. Sox 0-1. Once the Sox gave Cook the lead back in the 3rd, he’d protect it with ease. Cook worked quickly and kept that potent lineup off the boards. In the 4th, Cookie gave up a ground-rule double to Cruz, but picked him off to get that runner off the bases. Cook pitched 7 strong innings and left the mound in line for the win. Cook’s line for the night was 98 pitches, 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 BB and 2 Ks. Nice job Cookie!
The Sox offense got all over Darvish. They first got on the board in the 3rd when the Sox got into a double hitting show. Ellsbury doubled, Crawford doubled to bring home Ells and then Gonzo doubled to bring home Crawford. Sox had the lead 2-1 and would never give it back. In the 4th, Ellsbury hit another double to score Kalish. Sox 3-1. Crawford hit a sac fly RBI to score Aviles. Sox 4-1. Pedey then hit an RBI double to score Ellsbury. Sox 5-1. In the 7th, Pedey hit one more double to leadoff the inning and then Gonzo hit an RBI single to score him. Sox 6-1. Doubles, doubles….everywhere! Darvish was pulled in the 7th inning and clearly he did not have his best day. The Sox offense took advantage and got those clutch hits when they had runners in scoring position. In the 8th, the Sox also got all over the Rangers bullpen. Crawford hit an RBI double to score Ellsbury, Gonzo hit an RBI single to score Crawford and then Cody Ross hit a sac fly RBI to score pinch runner Ciriaco. Sox 9-1.
After Cook was done for the night, Junichi Tazawa took the mound in the 8th. Tazawa has really been a productive piece of the bullpen since he was called up to replace injured Atchison. Tazawa pitched himself a nice 1-2-3 inning in the 8th. In the 9th, Tazawa gave up a solo HR to former Sox Adrian Beltre. Tazawa also gave up a rocking single to the wall to Nelson Cruz, but did not allow him to score.
The offense was hitting and the pitching was effective. I like games like this. The water is dirty and the Sox are once again back at 500 ball.
Red Sox 9 Rangers 2 BOXSCORE
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