All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 9-5 loss to the Rangers, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Darwinzon not ready for prime time: The night began well enough for rookie lefty Darwinzon Hernandez. He struck out the side on 13 pitches in the first inning, then fanned the first batter in the second, too. But it was steadily downhill from there, as Hernandez walked the next two hitters he faced and four of the next eight, leading to three runs over the first three innings. But the middle of the fourth, he was done. "The stuff is great and all of that,'' said Alex Cora. "But obviously, he was erratic. You saw flashes of greatness in the strike zone early on. I was talking to him afterward and I said, 'Probably the worst thing that could happen was that you struck out the first four guys,' and probably he was trying to strike everybody out after that. He's still learning. You see the stuff and it's really good, so we've got to just keep developing him and helping him out. He'll be a good one.''
Holt offers an explanation for lack of hustle: It's rare that an inside-the-park homer takes place at Fenway, but one happened in the sixth when Hunter Pence hit a twisting fly ball just beyond the foul pole in right. Brock Holt, not accustomed to play much right, went racing after the ball and leaped into the stands. But as he did so, the ball came back onto the field of play and rolled toward the wall in right, to the right of the visitor's bullpen. Holt didn't know the ball was in play and took his time climbing back onto the field as the ball lay on the warning track. "I got in the stands a little bit and I thought the ball went over the fence (with me),'' said Holt. "It's one of those things where I've got to know where the ball is. When I ended up two rows deep in the stands I assume that it had gone out. I had no idea that it was still in play. That's kind of embarrassing on my part. I've got to do a better job paying attention. That one was on me.''
Umpires make themselves the show: It's not often that you see both managers in a game ejected within minutes of one another, on unrelated plays. But that's what happened Tuesday night, thanks to Angel Hernandez and his crew. First, first base umpire Vic Carapazza ejected Andrew Benintendi in the bottom of the fifth inning for shouting "You suck'' in the general direction of home plate. Benintendi was frustrated that Hernandez had called the first pitch of his at-bat a strike, and voice his frustration, from almost 100 feet away from the plate, as he walked back to the dugout. "If you're getting thrown out for saying 'You suck,' there should be multiple ejections each game,'' said Benintendi. "It stinks." Cora came out to defend his player and also was run by Carapazza. Then, in the top of the sixth, Hernandez ejected Texas manager Chris Woodward, who was enraged by Hernandez's decision to not allow a replay challenge at second base on a close play because 30 seconds had elapsed. It was the first ejection of Woodward's career as a manager, coach or player at any level. "Most give you the (warning),'' Woodward said of the replay process. "I don't have a 30-second clock in my head.''
SECOND GUESS
The Red Sox' lack of starting pitching options has been made obvious in recent weeks, but in hindsight, it's hard to believe that the organization thought that Hernandez was ready to start against a pretty good opponent. It's well-documented that Hernandez hasn't thrown nearly enough strikes at Double-A; did the Sox think that graduating to the big leagues -- even for just one spot start -- was going to cure his control issues? Unsurprisingly, Hernandez encountered the same issues, walking five in just three innings.
ONE UP
J.D. Martinez: Martinez finally looked like his usual self at the plate, drawing a walk and banging two doubles in five plate appearances.
TWO DOWN
Bobby Poyner: Poyner came in from the bullpen for the fifth inning and was shelled for five runs on six hits over the next three innings.
Brock Holt: In addition to his mix-up and lack of hustle on the inside-the-park homer, Holt was hitless in four at-bats.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"We keep thinking, 'We're going to get out of this, we're going to get out this.' We haven't yet.'' - Brock Holt on the team's play so far.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:
- The Red Sox have six outfield assists in the last nine games.
- Alex Cora's ejection was his third as a manager; Andrew Benintendi's ejection was the first of his major league career.
- Six of Mookie Betts' last nine hits have been for extra bases.
- Rafael Devers has 28 RBI in his last 28 games.