The Red Sox bullpen crashed twice Monday night, resulting in a brutal 4-3, 11-inning loss to the Texas Rangers.
Ryan Brasier gave up the winning run in a tie game in the top of the 11th as Danny Santana doubled and rode home on a single to center by Elvis Andrus.
Two innings earlier, Matt Barnes had inherited a one-run lead in the top of the ninth. But after getting the first out, Barnes allowed three straight hits, topped by a two-run single by Nomar Mazara, handing the Rangers their first lead of the night.
The loss spoiled a strong start from Chris Sale, who allowed an unearned run over seven innings while fanning 10.
The Sox had grabbed a 2-0 lead two batters into the game when Mookie Betts walked and Andrew Benintendi homered into the Monster Seats.
That was the only damage done against Texas starter Mike Minor, who went eight and allowed only three hits after the first.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Texas Rangers
WHERE: Fenway Park
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (2-7, 3.84) vs. LHP Mike Minor (5-4, 2.55)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:50 Interim third base coach Andy Barkett was waving Holt as he approached the third base bag, then put up the stop sign as he got to the bag. Holt kept going and was an easy out at the plate.
9:44 Pinch-hit single by Brock Holt scores pinch-runner Michael Chavis from third with the tying run.
9:26 Matt Barnes blows the save. Single by Danny Santana, double by Elvis Andrus, and with the infield drawn in, a liner just over the head of shortstop Xander Bogaerts by Nomar Mazara scores two.
9:10 Workman tosses a perfect eighth inning. He's been unscored upon in 29 of his 32 appearances this season.
8:54 Sale finishes with a flourish, striking out Cabrera, giving him 10 strikeouts and 99 pitches over seven innings. Brandon Workman up in the bullpen, so that's probably it for him.
8:37 Sale wasn't happy that home plate umpire Hunter Wendlestedt (and by extension, first base umpire Angel Hernandez) didn't ring up Danny Santana on a check swing for what would have been strike three and the end of the inning. So, naturally, Santana singled to left, scoring a run, on the very next pitch.
8:25 Red Sox follow a familiar pattern by failing to deliver a runner in scoring position. Bradley was on third with one out, but Betts strikes out and Benintendi grounds out to second.
8:20 Jackie Bradley Jr. catches the Rangers napping and swipes third base.
8:12 Sam Travis snares a hard-hit liner by Asdrubal Cabera, but in trying to double off Hunter Pence, his throw to second is wide of shortstop Xander Bogaerts and Pence gets back safely. Error for Travis.
7:55 Danny Santana becomes the first Ranger to reach base against Chris Sale -- banging a double off The Wall -- and is then promptly erased attempting to steal second base. Sandy Leon has thrown out 3-for-13 would-be base stealers this year.
7:21: Andrew Benintendi's homer -- a two-run shot to left-center -- was his first in 35 at-bats. It also extended his hitting streak to eight straight games. While the flip of Mookie Betts and Benintendi in the first two spots hasn't paid dividends for Betts, Benintendi is 11-for-32 in his last eight games with six runs scored now that he's hitting second.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Travis 1B
Nunez 3B
Bradley CF
Leon C
RANGERS
Deshields CF
Santana LF
Andrus SS
Mazara RF
Pence DH
Cabrera 3B
Forsythe 1B
Odor 2B
Mathis C
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have lost three of four after winning four in a row before that....The Sox are 12-2 in their last 14 games and have won the last six meetings....Jackie Bradley has hit .297 over his last 20 games with 12 extra-base hits and an OPS of 1.041 with 11 RBI and 12 runs scored....Sandy Leon is 6-for-14 (.429) in June....The Sox have 16 outfield assists, tied with the Minnesota Twins and San Francisco Giants for most in the majors....The Sox have racked up five assists from the outfield in the last seven games and four in the last three...Boston outfielders have committed only two errors all season, the fewest in the majors. Six teams have committed 10 or more outfield assists so far...Andrew Benintendi has a seven-game hitting streak and had scored at least once in his previous five games...Rafael Devers came in hitless in his previous 14 at-bats...In his last nine starts, Chris Sale had a 2.43 ERA and a .166 batting average against...He's allowed two runs in seven of his last nine outings....Asdrubal Cabrera came into the game 10-for-48 (.263) with two homers off Sale....Danny Santana, meanwhile, was 3-for-19 with six strikeouts and Elvis Andrus was 4-for-28 with seven strikeouts....J.D. Martinez was 4-for-7 off Mike Minor with a homer and Mookie Betts was 3-for-7 with a homer...
PRE-GAME NOTES
- The Red Sox optioned lefty reliever Josh Taylor to Pawtucket and recalled LHP Bobby Poyner.