The Red Sox were demolished Tuesday night, surrendering six home runs to a dominant Texas team en route to an 18-3 loss.
Jon Lester got the start, and after escaping trouble in the first inning, suffered through one of the ugliest four-run innings in the history of the game, surrendering a two-run shot to Mike Napoli, loading the bases, and then having two more score on a single that didn't get more than 20 feet down the third base line and a routine fly ball that Cody Ross inexplicably dropped.
Colby Lewis had his own early-game problems as well, having already given up a two-run shot to Dustin Pedroia in the bottom of the first. The Sox would put men on second and third afterward as well, but both were stranded as Ross grounded out.
If there was any hope for Lester to rebound in the third, it was squashed as he proceeded to load the bases before recording an out. Already over 80 pitches and clearly having nothing in the tank, Lester was pulled from the game for Scott Atchison, who wouldn't be able to strand any of the inherited runners, leaving the Sox down 7-2. Still, Atchison would hold down the fort, keeping the Sox alive on some level for a few innings, only giving up another run come the sixth on a solo shot from Michael Young.
The real end for the Sox would come in the eighth. With Mark Melancon in the game, the Rangers proceeded to six men to the plate, record not an out, and hit three home runs. Justin Thomas fared better, but not by that much, surrendering two more runs as he finished out the inning.
Adrian Gonzalez gave the Sox one tiny silver lining when he went deep in the bottom of the eighth, but the Rangers were unwilling to even let the Sox maintain that reduced margin of victory, striking for two off of Vicente Padilla in the ninth.
*****
An Embarrassing Display: There's no two ways about this. The Red Sox were embarrassed Tuesday night, beaten in every aspect of the game to the point where they didn't even deserve to be on the same field, and this at home.
Mark Melancon: A 22.50 HR/9, an ERA approaching 50, and absolutely no indication things are getting better. It's becoming clear that before too long Melancon won't be with the team--the only question is if it will be because he was optioned to Triple-A, or because of a DL trip.
Oh, Bobby: Bobby Valentine could have just quietly let the game run down and left without any greater heat than what normally comes with an 18-3 loss. He didn't do anything wrong tonight--it was the team that sucked, and he had to write something down on the lineup card.
Then came the ninth, and Vicente Padilla--one of the few pitchers who has shown the ability to record outs so far this year--and wasted him in a 15 run game. Just throw Darnell McDonald out there!