Rangers @ Red Sox (June 29th, 30th-July 1st-2nd)

[Molina00]

Game 1 Recap
The Rangers continued to get solid starting pitching, but this time the offense couldn't come through. Jamey Wright pitched 5 innings for Texas allowing just 2 runs but was outpitched by Boston starter Tim Wakefield who allowed only 1 run over 6.2 innings. Each teams bullpen was even better. The Ranger pen allowed just 2 hits over 3 scoreless innings while the Red Sox pen pitched 2.1 scoreless innings.

Adam Melhuse scored the only run of the game for Texas, but Kenny Lofton was the offensive higlight. Lofton went 4 for 4 with a walk and 4 stolen bases giving him 20 steals for the season.

Despite solid pitching and an outstanding game by Lofton, the Rangers lost the series opener 2-1.

[Molina00]

Game 2 Recap
The Rangers got back on the winning track in last night's game. A game which showcased some outstanding Ranger relief pitching, and a game winning homerun from Slammin Sammy.

The Red Sox hit Robinson Tejeda hard early on for 4 runs over the first 2 innings of the game. Tejeda finished with 4 innings in the books having allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and 6 walks. Boston starter Josh Beckett wasn't much better. The Rangers peppered him for all 5 runs on 10 hits over 5 innings of work.

Both teams bullpens were excellent with the Rangers throwing 5 scoreless innings higlighted by Eric Gagne notching his 9th save of the year. The Sox pen threw 4 scoreless.

The Rangers were trailing 4-0 going into the 4th inning before breaking out for 4 runs in the inning against Josh Beckett. With the game tied at 4 with 1 out in the 5th inning, Sammy Sosa clubbed his 14th homerun of the season giving the Rangers a 5-4 lead which would hold up as the final score.

With a 2 for 4 with walks performance, Kenny Lofton improved to 6 for 8 with 2 walks in the series so far.

[BronxBomberz]

Let's go rangers!

[Turn 2]

Todays matchup-Loe vs Tavarez


Loe has had a rough year, but has pitched well in his last three outings, while Tavarez had a rough outing in his last start going only 4.1 of an inning.

Should be a high scoring affair.

[Molina00]

So much for the high scoring affair prediction. The Rangers with a 2-1 victory and Kam Loe was at the top of his game. Loe pitched 6 innings surrending just 1 run to improve to 5-6 on the year and lower his ERA to 5.72. Tavarez pitched nearly as good allowing 2 runs, 1 of them earned, over 5.2 innings.

The Rangers offensive highlight was the top order with Lofton, Vazquez and Young going a combined 6 for 14.

Kenny Lofton improved to 8 for 13 with 2 walks for the series. Actually he didn't improve. With his 2 for 5 performance today Lofton's series average plummeted 135 points.

The Rangers are now a win away from taking the series 3-1.

AL East fans rejoice! (Unless you are Sox fans)

[Turn 2]

That makes 4 straight strong outings for Loe. Taverez did however bounce back from a poor performance with a good one of his own. Just not enough offense from the Sox.