Red Sox 3, Rangers 5: Free Fallin'

With five losses in six games, the Red Sox are in free fall.

Gifted a series against the Texas Rangers featuring Scott Feldman, Martin Perez, and Derek Holland, the Red Sox went out, scored six runs, and lost the series 2-1.

Tonight featured the best offensive performance of the series for the Sox, but it was still isolated and underwhelming. A run in the first after a double play largely wasted a first-and-third situation with zero outs. A run in the fourth on a Will Middlebrooks solo shot. Another in the sixth when Dustin Pedroia managed the same.

But on the whole? Six baserunners in 7.2 innings against a middling lefty like Holland. Not a surprise given the results against Perez and Feldman, but still a disappointment.

Josh Beckett, meanwhile, was the unfortunate Beckett for a few innings, and that was all it took. A good defensive effort saved Beckett from a bases loaded situation in the third, but couldn't help him avoid giving up a three-run fourth. It ended with a squeeze and a bloop, but began with three hard hits, so Beckett gets no free passes there. A plunked Elvis Andrus, single from Adrian Beltre, and wild pitch in the seventh was enough to make it four runs, and while Matt Albers was all-too-willing to allow a fifth, it wasn't even needed.

This Texas - New York run has started about as poorly as most probably expected. The only problem is that the Sox were actually given opportunities that should have resulted in them outperforming expectations. Instead, they lost the series, and now sit one game under .500 four games from the trade deadline.