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Red Sox lose to Rangers, 8-4

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Limited to three hits Friday afternoon, the Sox broke out of their offensive doldrums with 11 hits last night. But it wasn’t nearly enough to off-set a failure by their bullpen.

The Sox were still within striking distance when starter Julian Tavarez left after four innings, trailing by two. But a disastrous sixth inning saw the Texas Rangers pound Kyle Snyder and J.C. Romero for four runs, helping them to an 8-4 victory over the Sox.

The Sox posed a mild threat in the seventh after Texas starter Kevin Millwood had departed and nicked the Rangers’ bullpen for a run when Manny Ramirez lined a sharp single to center, scoring Julio Lugo (single) and sending David Ortiz (walk) to second.

But former Red Sox pitcher Ron Mahay came on to get J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell and the Sox never offered much offensively after that.

The Sox stranded 10 runners on the night and once more had difficulty producing with runners on base.

The Boston bullpen had thrown eight consecutive scoreless innings coming into the game, but that streak ended in hurry last night.

In the sixth, Snyder gave up a leadoff double to Jerry Hairston Jr. and left one out later for Romero. Romero had been almost perfect in his three previous appearances, allowing only one hit over 2 2/3 innings, but couldn’t record an out as he faced five hitters.

Mark Teixeria greeeted him with a run-scoring single and Sammy Sosa followed with a belt to left-center, the 589th of his career and first of the season.

Singles by Hank Blalock and Brad Wilkerson kept the inning going and Nelson Cruz’ blistering shot off Dustin Pedroia’s glove scored the fourth run of the inning before Brendan Donnelly came in to finally get the third out.

Millwood recovered from a shaky start -- 50 pitches in the first two innings -- to find himself in the middle innings.

In getting Ortiz to ground out to end the second, Millwood went on to retire seven of the next eight Red Sox hitters and nine of the next 11.

Finally, in the sixth, the Sox stirred some. Drew singled to center and rode home one out later when Jason Varitek laced a pitch down-and-away to the wall in left for a run-scoring double.

It was the catcher’s second hit of the season and second RBI.

Tavarez, installed in the rotation in the final week of spring training, began well enough, retiring the first five hitters he faced, but there were warning signs in the second when he walked two after two were out and had wiggle out of a bases-loaded jam.

He wasn’t nearly so successful in the third when the Rangers scored four times.

After Jerry Hairston Jr. walked with one out, Michael Young drove a ball the opposite way. J.D. Drew attempted to cut the ball off the near the right field foul line, but the ball skipped under his glove and rolled to the corner as Hairston scored.

Drew then compounded things when his throw sailed over two teammates -- Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis. Varitek had to retrieve the ball himself in front of the plate and when he raced back to the plate to apply a swipe tag to Young, he was a fraction of a second late.

There was more trouble for Tavarez still to come. Singles by Teixeria and Sosa plus a walk to Wilkerson filled the bases for Cruz, who lined a bullet to left.

Ramirez seemed unwilling to make a diving stab at the ball for fear it might get past him. Instead, the ball fell a foot in front of him and Teixeria and Sosa scored, giving the Rangers’ a two-run lead.

It looked like it might be a quick night for Millwood, but the Sox weren’t as opportunistic as they could have been and had to be satisfied with single runs in the first and second when they could have had more.

With runners at the corners and one out in the first, Drew dropped a ball inside the left-field line, scoring Youkilis from third easily. But Ramirez, breaking from first with the play in front of him, made an ill-advised dash for third and was out easily.
The Sox collected three walks and a hit in the second, but had to be content with just a single run.

A single to center by Lugo scored Coco Crisp from second, but with the bases loaded, Millwood got Ortiz to ground out to first, stranding three.

--SEAN McADAM

Posted by Chris Venditto  at 11:31 PM | Permalink

PawSox win on Ochoa's hit in tenth

FORT MILL, S.C. -- The Pawtucket Red Sox defeated the Charlotte Knights, 4-3, with an RBI single by Alex Ochoa in the top of the tenth inning that scored Jeff Bailey, who had doubled with one out in International League action at Knights Stadium on Saturday night.

The Charlotte Knights and the Pawtucket Red Sox were tied 3-3 after nine innings in International League action at Knights Stadium on Saturday night.

The Paw Sox (2-0) were trying for their first 3-0 start since 1993 and, for the third straight night, they jumped out to an early lead. But this time they couldn’t hold it.

Ed Rogers led off the game with a double into the left field corner. David Murphy walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch by Charlotte starting pitcher Lance Broadway. They scored one out later on Luis Jiminez’ two-run single up the middle.

The Knights got one run back in the bottom of the inning against Mike Timlin, making his second appearance in a major league rehab assignment. Jerry Owens led off with a single down the left field line and came around to score on a wild pitch and two infield outs.

David Pauley replaced Timlin after the first inning and limited the Knights to one unearned run and three hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out five.

Each team scored a run in the third, assisted by a defensive meltdown by the opponent.

David Murphy and Jiminez walked for the PawSox, then with two out Alex Ochoa hit a ball that Knights second baseman Andy Gonzalez bobbled, then threw wide of first base for a pair of errors. Murphy scored to make it a 3-1 game.

Charlotte matched it in the bottom of the inning. With two out, Owens hit a ball back to the mound that Pauley misplayed, then threw wildly down the right field line. Owens ended up on third and then scored on Lopez’ single to left.

The PawSox couldn’t get much going offensively for the next five innings, mustering only singles by Chad Spann in the fourth and George Kottaras in the sixth.

And the Knights tied the game in the eighth against Pawtucket relief pitcher Edgar Martinez. Owens led off with a walk and scored on Casey Rogowski’s double down the left field line. Rogowski moved to third on a wild pitch, but stayed there as Martinez retired the next two batters.

Pawtucket threatened to regain the lead in the ninth, when George Kottaras drew a walk and Brandon Moss doubled into left center field to start the inning against Charlotte reliever Boone Logan. But Spann flied out and Joe McEwing and Rogers struck out to send the game to extra innings.

NOTES: Timlin’s one-inning start ended his rehab stint with the PawSox. He will rejoin the Red Sox today in Arlington, Texas. ..The four-game series ends with a 2:15 p.m. game today. Scheduled starting pitchers are right-handers Runelvys Hernandez for the PawSox and Gavin Floyd for Charlotte

--KEITH CANNON (Special to the Journal)

Posted by Chris Venditto  at 10:25 PM | Permalink

Is this Arlington, TX, or Arlington MA?

I saw it for myself -- snow flurries on April 7...in Texas! Neither team is hitting on the field. Usually, when that happens here, it's because of the oppressive heat. Today, it's the cold, with temps in the low 40s now and sure to be colder by gametime.

Lineup is standard:
Lugo ss
Youkilis 1b
Ortiz dh
Ramirez lf
Drew rf
Lowell 3b
Varitek c
Crisp cf
Pedroia 2b

Posted by Sean McAdam  at 6:39 PM | Permalink