For one night, at least, it was all good again in the Red Sox' universe. Chris Sale can have that effect.
Making his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery, Sale provided the spark with five shutout innings and the Red Sox snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-0 win over the Texas Rangers. Sale allowed five hits, walked one and struck out five.
The Red Sox got him the only run he would need in the first on a run-scoring single from Xander Bogaerts. Bogaerts later added a solo homer and Alex Verdugo supplied a two-out, two-run double as part of a three-run fifth inning,
WHO: Red Sox (69-54) vs. Texas Rangers (42-79)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: TEX 3-1
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (1-0, 3.,77) vs RHP Dane Dunning 5-7, 4.06)
TV/RADIO: NESN: WEEI-FM 93,7
LINEUPS
RANGERS
Holt 3B
Kiner-Falefa SS
Garcia RF
Peters CF
Heim C
Pozo DH
Hernandez 2B
Martin LF
Ibanez 1B
RED SOX
Hernandez 2B
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Schwarber DH
Martinez LF
Verdugo RF
Vazquez C
Duran C
Dalbec 1B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T6: That's it for Sale, who leaves after just 71 pitches, having given the Sox five scoreless innings. With Boston scoring three runs in the fifth, Cora apparently felt that was enough.
B5: Huge two-out double by Alex Verdugo off The Wall, bumping the Sox lead to 5-0 and chasing starter Dane Dunning.
B5: Bogaerts turns on an inside pitch and yanks it down the line into the Monster Seats for homer No. 20
B5: D.J. Peters robs Rafael Devers of extra bases inn front of the scoreboard in left.
B3: Poor baserunning by Schwarber, who tries to go second to third on a dirt ball and is out easily.
B3: Kyle Schwarber misses his first Red Sox homer by no more than a foot or so, and settles for a double high off The Wall to lead off the third,
B2: And yet another opposite-field single -- this one by Hernandez -- scoring Christian Vazquez (double, groundout) from third.
B2: Of the four Red Sox hits so far, three have been to RF, including two by right-handed hitters. Sox seem to be taking more of an all-field approach tonight and showing more control of the strike zone.
B1: A leadoff double by Kike Hernandez -- the first non-homer extra-base hit since last Sunday -- a passed ball and a sharp single by Xander Bogaerts produces the first Red Sox run.
T1: Chris Sale works around a one-out double, finishing with a flourish -- two straight strikeouts.
WHAT'S UP: The Sox have lost three in a row and are 4-4 in their last eight and 14-18 since the All-Star break....The Sox are 9-7 in their last 16 at homes after winning their previous nine home games before that...Their .607 winning percentage at home is fourth-best in the American League and ninth-best in MLB....The Sox are 16-8 in their last 24 games vs. Texas and 6-1-1 in their last head-to-head series.....In the last 12 games, Red Sox starters have a 3,17 ERA and have allowed three runs or fewer in 11 of those 12 games...Since June 27, Kike Hernandez leads the American League in on-base percentage at .404...In first plate appearances of the game, he's batting ,.385 in that same span with a 1.338 OPS and has struck out just three times in 39 at-bats...Kyle Schwarber has a .500 OBP in four games with the Sox...The Sox were held to just five runs and just three extra-base hits in three games in New York, while averaging nine runs per game in the seven games previous to that series....Overall, the Sox rank sixth in runs scored per game (4.97) and are in the top in average (third), slugging percentage (second), OPS (fourth), doubles (first) and extra-base hits (first)....The Sox are the only team with three players with 50 or more extra-base hits: J.D. Martinez (58), Xander Bogaerts (50) and Rafael Devers (62)...Devers has 29 homers and is one shy of becoming just the second player in franchise history to record multiple 30-homer seasons before turning 25. Ted Williams is the other...Also, the next homer for Devers will be No. 104 of his career, breaking a tie with Cesar Cedeno for the second-most homers by a Dominican-born player before 25. He would trail only Albert Pujols (160)....Hernandez has reached base in 27 of his last 28 games...In his last 11 games, Alex Verdugo is batting .395 ....Martinez has 11 RBI in his last nine games.
NOTES:
* Kyle Schwarber, who was due to make his outfield debut this weekend, instead found himself as the DH again with J,D. Martinez in left field. Alex Cora said the Sox preferred this defensive alignment for the night. He added that Schwarber also got work in at first base during Friday's pre-game workout with the expectation that Schwarber will play the outfield at some point during the weekend.
* Alex Cora said that while INF Christian Arroyo remains with Worcester for his rehab assignment, he could rejoin the parent club soon.
* Cora said the Sox spent some time working on bunting during early batting practice, noting that with the team desperate for runs, they could employ some "small ball'' strategy in the short-term, citing outfielder Jarren Duran as a candidate who could use his speed to put some pressure on opposing teams.