Ok, what gives? Since returning from the All-Star break, the Boston Red Sox have been terrible. They lost their fourth game in a row (first time that's happened in a year) last night, 4-2 to the host Texas Rangers.
For the most part, the pitching has been fine, it's the lack of timely hitting that's become an epidemic for the slumping Sox (55-38). To make matters worse, the Yankees are on fire and with their win last night, they took over first place in the AL East.
Hank Blalock gave Texas (51-41) a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run single off Josh Beckett.
Kevin Youkilis cut it to 2-1 with an RBI double in the sixth which scored Dustin Pedroia.
The Rangers couldn't do much against Beckett after the first inning but they kept chipping away and David Murphy had a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Josh Hamilton singled home Michael Young in the eighth.
Beckett (11-4) went all eight innings for Boston, giving up four earned runs on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.
Rangers youngster Tommy Hunter (2-1) went 6.1 innings, allowing only one earned run on four hits. He walked one and struck out two.
The Sox got one in the ninth off Rangers closer C.J. Wilson as Mike Lowell singled home Jason Bay (3 walks) but if you were watching the game, you knew there was zero chance they were coming back.
Wilson walked one and struck out one for his ninth save of the season.
Tim Wakefield went on the DL yesterday with a back strain, meaning Clay Buchholz is back up already and will pitch the series finale tonight. Let's hope the Texas native has better luck than Beckett did.
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