Aaron Cook solid as Boston Red Sox flatten Texas Rangers 9-2 – MLB Update
Boston Red Sox put up a heroic show as they outclassed the inform Texas Rangers 9-2 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts on Monday, August 6 in the opening game of their three match series.
Daniel Murphy earned an RBI single to centre in the second to give Texas an early 1-0 lead. Carl Crawford doubled to deep right in the third to help the Red Sox make a strong come back.
Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI double in the third and Crawford hit a sacrifice fly to centre in the fourth to extend Boston’s lead to 4-1.
With momentum on their side, the Red Sox continued to put pressure on the Rangers’ pitching rotation, scoring three runs in the eighth to take the lead beyond their reach.
Adrian Beltre homered in the bottom of the ninth but the Red Sox held on to their lead comfortably to complete their extraordinary win.
"They popped the ball around the ballpark pretty good," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Yu threw a lot of strikes and when he put them in the strike zone, they didn't miss them."
Starting pitcher Aaron Cook had another decent outing as he gave up just one earned run in seven solid innings for his third win of the season. Junichi Tazawa allowed two hits in two innings of relief.
"Any time I have my sinker working and guys are playing great defense behind me, that's a recipe for success," Cook said.
Manager Bobby Valentine will be very relieved to see his team start the series on a winning note. The Red Sox were annihilated by Minnesota Twins in their previous series, losing three out of four games. Credit should be given to them for showing great composure
and mental toughness to come out of that slump.
"He hasn't swung the bat all year. He hasn't pitched. It's us that are playing out there so the .500 record we're at right now, it's on us. It's not on Bobby”, said of his skipper Valentine.
It will be interesting to see if Valentine and company can bring more consistency in their results to have any chance of reaching 2012 Major League Baseball post season.
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