BSJ Game Report: Rangers 10, Red Sox 1 - Boston 'embarrassing' in worst game of season

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Rangers, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE 

HEADLINES

Red Sox embarrassed at home: It began when Christian Vazquez made the type of tag at home plate that's unacceptable in Little League, forget about the Major Leagues.

And then it got much worse.

Some of the issues: 

• Season-high five errors, the most since 8/25/2017 vs. the Orioles.They had the same number of hits.
• Red Sox missed about three outs due to tags.
• Kike Hernandez was doubled off first base.
• JD Martinez was thrown out by about 15 feet at home to end the second inning when the Sox would have had bases loaded.
• Martinez and Alex Verdugo struck out a combined three times and left six of the eight runnings on base.
• I can't remember the last ball the Red Sox hit hard.
• The Red Sox were blown out at home by a team that is the worst team in the AL not named the Orioles at 43-80 (.350 winning percentage).

Thankfully, Alex Cora didn't sugarcoat things after the game.

"Embarrassing is the word and starts from me," he said. "Five errors, we didn't run the bases well, we didn't put good at-bats, we didn't pitch. This thing is a team effort, it starts with us, with the coaches to keep coaching and we've been playing sloppy ball for a while and they keep doing it so at some point we've got to be accountable too. That was embarrassing today. It's not acceptable for a team that is fighting for the playoffs to show up like that and play like that. It doesn't matter if you win and lose the game. It's how you win or lose the game and that's not acceptable.

"I hate the way we played today, I hate it. That's the bottom line. I know a lot of people praise me because I pay attention to details and all that stuff. Well, you know, that's not attention to detail, that's not good sound baseball so it starts with leadership right? I'm the manager of this team so I'm accountable. I've got to do a better job to put these guys in a better position to be successful."

Cora isn't happy with Eduardo Rodriguez, either: In his three previous August starts, Eduardo Rodriguez had allowed just two earned runs, a total of nine hits (four doubles) and struck out 24 in 16.1 innings. Against the Rangers, Rodriguez lasted 3.2 innings and gave up five earned runs on eight hits and struck out three.

"There's not much to talk about him," Cora said of his pitcher. "You saw what happened. Wasn't able to put people away. He didn't give us enough innings for us to win the game."

Rodriguez didn't shy away from responsibility after the game.

"You just say it, just embarrassing the way I pitched," he said. "I was missing my spots with all my pitches. It's just one of those games where you have to turn the page and go to the next one."

TURNING POINT

As bad as the Red Sox were, they had a chance to get back into this game and steal it from a bad baseball team when they had two on and one out in the sixth inning of a 6-1 game. But then JD Martinez struck out on four pitches, and one was in the zone.

And Verdugo popped out weakly to end the inning.

ZERO UP

Nope. Everyone gets a big fat goose egg. They were awful.

INFINITY DOWN

Christian Vazquez: Can't get over how bad that tag was. That set the tone for the whole game. He was also 1 for 3.

Red Sox offense: Outside of Bobby Dalbec doubling and getting robbed of another double, they had five hits against Jordan Lyles, who entered with a 5-10 record and 5.55 ERA.

Red Sox fans: How does your team, which has been in a free fall for the better part of a month, play like that on a Saturday night and they only get a smattering of boos?! Boo the crap out of them! They deserved it.

QUOTE OF NOTE

"Nah, that's not pressure, that's not feeling the pressure, that's just playing bad baseball. It's not the pressure. We play a good baseball game yesterday and today was awful. That was a bad game." - Cora

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

-The Rangers snapped a 4-game losing streak. It was just their second win on the road since the All-Star break (8/10 at SEA).

- The Rangers scored 10 runs after scoring 10 runs total in their previous 4 games.

- Rangers hit a season-high seven doubles, their most since 4/27/19 at Seattle.

UP NEXT

The Red Sox and Rangers are scheduled to conclude their series at 1:10 p.m. with RHP Nathan Eovaldi (10-8, 3.91) vs. LHP Kolby Allard (3-10, 4.88) if Henri cooperates. They played tonight like they were going on vacation.