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In a game that never really seemed within reach, the Red Sox feel to Derek Holland and the Texas Rangers 7-0.
For three innings, the score would stay close, but even during those early stages, this did not feel like a Red Sox win waiting to happen. And that was because Derek Holland came out absolutely dealing. In just seven pitches, he had already made both Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino look completely foolish. This was a trend that would continue as the game went on.
The same could not be said for Felix Doubront. While in the past his problems have been mostly to do with walks, on Friday he couldn't stop the hits. A great play from Shane Victorino, throwing behind Elvis Andrus at second would get Doubront out of a scoreless first despite a pair of singles. The defense made it up to the Rangers in the second, however, when Pedro Ciriaco fired a bullet into the ground rather than to first, turning what should have been the third out into a run-scoring error.
In the fourth, however, Doubront had no real excuse. With two outs and a runner on first, he surrendered baserunner after baserunner. Five straight baserunners would reach, and by the time the Rangers' rally was over, the Sox were starting at a six-run deficit with Doubront already out of the game.
On a normal night, 6-0 by the end of the fourth wouldn't be a good thing, but also wouldn't be insurmountable. Derek Holland, however, wasn't really letting up. A walk in the fifth was erased with a double play, and if he gave up a pair of singles in the sixth, it was only to show he could get out of a jam. The seventh and eighth didn't take terribly long either, leaving just the ninth. There, old friend Derek Lowe held onto what had become a 7-0 Texas lead, leaving the Red Sox soundly defeated.
