BSJ Game Report: Rangers 6, Red Sox 4 - Boston's bullpen falters as Texas claws back for win

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

Rangers fight back as Sox’ bullpen falters: The Rangers battled back and took advantage of a poor night for the Red Sox' bullpen, taking the win by way of a 6-4 final on Tuesday. Boston came out for a three-run top of the third inning against old friend Nathan Eovaldi to take the lead and respond to Adolis Garcia's homer in the bottom of the second, but Texas got to Mauricio Llovera in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead before knocking Chris Murphy and John Schreiber around in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead after the Sox tied it in the top of the seventh. Aroldis Chapman dominated in the seventh and eighth innings, striking out three, allowing zero hits and averaging 101.2 mph on his sinker. 

TURNING POINT

Seventh inning: The Red Sox fought back to tie the game at four apiece with a hot start to the top of the seventh, but as soon as Chapman entered the game, the clamps went down on Boston's offense. With runners on second and third, the lefty struck out Rafael Devers before inducing a groundout from Justin Turner to end the inning.

When the seventh flipped over, Murphy had nothing going as he hit Marcus Semien to kick off the inning before Corey Seager created a jam with a single. Schreiber had nothing in the tank, either, missing his fastball over the plate as Josh Jung's RBI single restored Texas' lead. A wild walk of Robbie Grossman loaded the bases and a non-competitive walk to Jonah Heim drove in insurance for the 6-4 final. 

TWO UP

Bobby Dalbec: Has a hit in every game since being recalled from Triple-A, getting knocks in three straight and doubling in two straight as he continues to put forth a strong end-of-season showcase. Finished 1-for-3, scoring a pair of runs, walking once and striking out twice. His walk got things started in the big third inning, and his double got the rally going in the seventh. Had a 110.3 mph exit velocity on the two-bagger. 

Masataka Yoshida: Grinding through the dog days of the season for him, came through with a two-RBI single to give Boston a 3-1 lead in the third. 

FOUR DOWN

Mauricio Llovera: Saw Boston's initial lead evaporate in the blink of an eye on his watch. Couldn't close out Garcia before walking him to cap off a 10-pitch at-bat. Gave up an RBI double to Heim to tie the game before leaving a sinker high in the zone and over the plate for Leody Taveras' go-ahead single. 

Chris Murphy: Back-breaking start to the seventh inning after the Sox came back to tie it. Had a 1-2 count on Semien before beaning him. Missed high with a slider on Seager's single. 

John Schreiber: The runs in the seventh will be charged to Murphy, but Schreiber couldn't do anything to stop the bleeding he inherited from Murphy as his up-and-down second half continues. Struggled with his command, missing over the plate quite. 

Rafael Devers: Went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run but also two strikeouts. Poor discipline in both with Eovaldi making him look silly on a curveball below the zone in the first. Didn't put up much of a fight as Chapman began to cook in the seventh. Waved at a fastball up, in and out of the zone before failing to protect and taking what would be Strike 3 all day. Killed a lot of Boston's momentum with runners on third and second. 

NOTABLE 

The Sox dropped back to two games below .500. They are 1.5 games back of the Yankees in the basement of the AL East.

The Rangers snapped a four-game skid and moved back to within 0.5 games for first in the AL West after the Astros lost.  

Against Texas this season, Boston is 3-2 with a plus-2 run differential. The Sox are hitting .277 against the Rangers. Starters have a 4.03 ERA, while the bullpen has a 4.98 ERA.

Justin Turner (1-for-4, RBI) is five hits shy of tying a career-high (153) with 10 games remaining after setting a new career-best for RBI earlier this season, currently at 95. He needs to score three more runs to tie a career-high (87). 

QUOTE OF NOTE

"We were off, command-wise, the whole night," Alex Cora told reporters. "I think we ended up walking [eight]. At this level, you can't do that. You're gonna give those guys an opportunity to keep coming and coming. Seager, Semien, all those guys. The line keeps moving, they're gonna get more at-bats, and that's what happens."

UP NEXT

The series finale will be in Arlington on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. ET. RHP Brayan Bello (12-9, 3.71 ERA) is set to face old friend RHP John Gray (8-8, 4.05 ERA).