Rangers vs Red Sox (6/29-7/2)

Game 1: Tim Wakefield pitched 6.2 effective innings on Friday night to lead the Red Sox to victory. He allowed 1 run and struck out 4.

JD Drew and Mike Lowell had 2 hits each for the Red Sox. The Red Sox were only able to score 2 runs (RBIs from Wily Mo Pena and Manny Ramirez).

The Red Sox entered the 8th with a 2-1 lead and were able to keep that lead through the end of the game thanks to scoreless innings from Hideki Okajima and Jon Papelbon.

Game 2: On Saturday evening, the Red Sox scored 4 early runs against Robinson Tejada who appeared to have absolutely no control of any of his pitcher. The Red Sox, however, failed to capitalize on the ineffectiveness and the Rangers were able to stay in the game.

Generally, a 4-run lead is safe when Josh Beckett is on the mound, but that wasn't the case. Beckett ended up leaving after 5 innings in which he allowed 10 hits and 5 runs.

Once the Rangers got the lead, they never looked back. Eric Gagne finished off the Red Sox in the bottom of the 9th inning. The Red Sox have now lost 4 out of their last 5 games.

Jacoby Ellsbury made his much anticipated Major League debut and went 1/4.

Game 3: Julian Tavarez pitched very well on Sunday afternoon and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) in his 5.2 innings of work. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Kameron Loe did just a little bit better. Loe allowed 1 run in his 6 innings of work.

The Rangers bullpen finished out the final three innings. CJ Wilson, Frank Francisco, Akinori Otsuka, and Eric Gagne pitched in relief. Javier Lopez, Manny Delcarmen, and Hideki Okajima kept the game close for the Red Sox, but the offense was unable to come through and put another run on the board.

The Rangers won the game 2-1 and the Red Sox have now dropped 5 of their last 6 games. Jacoby Ellsbury drew another start in CF for the injured Coco Crisp and went 0/4. The only run for the Red Sox came on an RBI single from KevinYoukilis.

Game 4: Kason Gabbard's control was a little bit better this time around and the Red Sox benefitted greatly. Gabbard, who struggled last time out against the Mariners, pitched 5 innings and allowed 3 earned runs. He struggled with walks again but did not allow a hit until the 4th inning. When he finally did, the crowd gave him a nice round of applause but it was quieted quickly when Brad Wilkerson hit a 3-run homer to bring the Rangers to within 1.

Eric Hinske came up with a big hit for the Red Sox in the bottom half of that inning to give the Red Sox a 7-4 lead. Hinske collected 2 hits, as did Jacoby Ellsbury, Manny Ramirez, and Jason Varitek. Ellsbury was 2/2 with 2 runs scored and a stolen base, he also walked twice. Ellsbury showed off his great speed on a bouncer over the pitcher and when he scored from 2nd on a passed ball. Ellsbury is now hitting .300 in 10 ML at bats.

The win was the Red Sox 50th of the year and came at a good time. The team had been struggling and didn't have one of their aces on the mound, but the offense came through. The Yankees won as well and remain 10.5 games behind the Red Sox.

On Deck: The Red Sox will begin a 3-game series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Tuesday. Daisuke Matsuzaka will take on Scott Kazmir in the opener. The game will mark the first time that the Red Sox and Devil Rays have played this season. It is interesting to note that 20% of the remaining games for the Red Sox will be played against the Devil Rays.