Red Sox 6, Rangers 4
Red Sox 6, Rangers 4
- Four runs scored, and yet a loss.
- I guess that’s progress, of a sort, as way too often the Rangers have lost games and scored fewer than four runs.
- Tyler Mahle, who had been well nigh untouchable heading into the game, was not sharp. He allowed just a pair of runs, on solo homers by Alex Bergman and Wilyer Abreu, but was not fooling the Red Sox and giving up loud contact all over the place. Mahle needed 88 pitches to get through five innings, didn’t strike anyone out, and missed just four bats in the game.
- Tyler Mahle has now given up 7 runs in 42.2 innings in 2025. Three of those runs, in 6.2 innings, have been scored by the Red Sox. So against the non-Boston MLB teams, Mahle has allowed four runs in 36 innings.
- So yeah, Tyler Mahle didn’t have his A game but he still left the game with a 3-2 lead. Sadly, the bullpen didn’t have its A game, either. Mahle was replaced by Hoby Milner, who gave up a double, a single and a double before being yanked, and was fortunate to only have allowed one run, as Kristian Campbell, who had the single in the middle of the double sandwich, got thrown out at home trying to score by an excellent relay throw home. The run scoring double that chased Milner was by Wilyer Abreu, of course. Jacob Webb came in and got a pair of ground outs to end the inning, though the batter on the second of those ground outs was initially called safe, with Abreu seemingly scoring on the play, only to have it challenged and replay end up overturning the call. Between that and Campbell being thrown out at home, the Rangers dodged bullets.
- But not for long. Webb allowed a pair of singles to start the seventh. Robert Garcia came in for him and got Jarren Duran to line out to shortstop for the first out. It was hard hit and quick enough that you thought a double play would be turned, the runner on second caught off base, but not quite. A weak grounder by Rafael Devers resulted in the second out, and again, you’d hope a weak grounder could be an inning-ending double play in that situation, but twas not to be.
- So Alex Bregman was up, two on, two out, first base open. Conference on the mound, and the Rangers decide to pitch to him, a decision that backfired when Bregman slapped a single back up the middle, driving in both runners and making it a 5-3 game.
- Just to rub salt in the wound, Wilyer Abreu homered again in the eighth, but that was just insurance at that point.
- Four runs from the Rangers’ offense, which seems like a lot compared to what they’ve been doing for much of the season. It was all single tallies, though. Adolis Garcia with a solo homer in the fifth, Josh Jung with a solo homer in the ninth. A run scoring bases loaded ground out by Corey Seager in the third, a sac fly by Adolis Garcia in the fifth.
- Texas had plenty of opportunities, and even had extra base hits, with Josh Jung and Joc Pederson each recording a double, along with the two solo homers. But Texas was 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left nine runners on base, and that’ll do it.
- The Rangers seemed to have a chance to open things up against Boston starter Tanner Houck in the middle innings. They loaded the bases with one out in the third on a Jonah Heim walk, a Jung double, and a weird play where Wyatt Langford reached on an E1, ran past first base but didn’t touch it, Boston challenged the play on replay, it appeared Langford was going to be out because he didn’t touch the bag until after he ran past it and came back and touched it, but first baseman Romy Gonzalez had already, finally, touched first by then. But Langford was called safe, to everyone’s bafflement, and we all learned that once the runner goes past first it no longer is a force play, and the runner has to be tagged. So there you go.
- Anyway, bases loaded, one out, and a run scores on the Seager ground out. A Joc Pederson walk loaded the bases again but Marcus Semien grounded out to end the inning. Opportunity…well, probably not missed, because a run did score, but not cashed in on like we would have hoped.
- Fourth inning, Texas put a pair on with two outs after Adolis’s leadoff homer, on a Jonah Heim HBP and a Josh Smith single, but a Langford flyout ended the inning. In the fifth, Seager singled off of Tanner Houck’s butt and Pederson doubled, putting runners at second and third with no one out, but only one run came across, on the Adolis sac fly.
- So, yeah, missed opportunities. Texas threatened again in the ninth, down three, with Jung’s leadoff homer cutting it to two, and a Wyatt Langford one out walk bringing the tying run to the plate. Corey Seager lofted a ball to deep right field, and you thought initially maybe it had a chance, maybe he had tied up the game, but no, it was just to the warning track. Blaine Crim, who had hit for Pederson earlier in the game, valiantly battled Aroldis Chapman before striking out on the eighth pitch, ending the game.
- If one wants to feel optimistic about things, the offense did get runners on base and did show some power, even if as many runs didn’t score as one would like. But I know how y’all feel about optimism.
- Tyler Mahle topped out at 96.2 mph with his fastball, averaging 92.2 mph. Hoby Milner reached 88.7 mph with his fastball. Jacob Webb’s fastball maxed out at 93.9 mph. Robert Garcia touched 96.0 mph with his fastball. Caleb Boushley’s fastball hit 92.9 mph.
- Corey Seager had a 112.2 mph ground out and a 107.6 mph ground out. Joc Pederson had a 111.7 mph double and a 107.4 mph single. Adolis Garcia’s home run was 105.9 mph, and he had a 101.7 mph sacrifice fly. Josh Smith had a 104.7 mph single. Josh Jung’s homer was 104.6 mph. Marcus Semien had a 104.4 mph ground out and a 103.8 mph line out. Jonah Heim had a 102.9 mph ground out.
- Onwards to the rubber game.