The Red Sox suffered their fifth loss in six games Wednesday night, falling to the Rangers 5-3 and dropping below .500 yet again.
For the second straight night the Red Sox actually managed to take an early lead. A first-and-third, no outs situation in the first would only result in the one run as Dustin Pedroia grounded into a double play, but with Beckett managing to hold the Rangers down in the bottom of the inning, it was a welcome change to the standard order of events in opening innings.
While Josh Beckett would waver over the next couple of innings, loading the bases in the third, he would manage to preserve the lead headed into the fourth, where Derek Holland gave Will Middlebrooks something to hit inside. The third baseman turned on the offering, and made it 2-0 with his twelfth homer of the season.
Unfortunately, the bottom of the inning would prove Beckett's undoing. A pair of early doubles quickly got the Rangers on the board, and a single and squeeze play would bring in the tying run. With a bloop dropping into right field despite a sliding attempt from Cody Ross, the Rangers took a 3-2 lead.
Dustin Pedroia would get the Sox back into things with a solo shot in the sixth, but the tie would not last long. Facing his seventh inning, Beckett plunked Elvis Andrus with one out and then gave up a single to Adrian Beltre, allowing Andrus to reach third. All it took from there was one pitch in the dirt and past Kelly Shoppach to give the Rangers the lead. A Nelson Cruz homer off of Matt Albers in the eighth extended the lead to 5-3, where Joe Nathan would hold it with a 1-2-3 ninth.
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