Rangers jump out early in win vs. Red Sox

[June 27, 2016]  ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers made sure starter Martin Perez had an easy path to winning his sixth-straight decision Sunday.

The Rangers scored three runs off Boston's Clay Buchholz before he retired a batter as they eased their way to a 6-2 victory over the Red Sox.

The win moved Texas 22 games over the .500 mark for the first time since the 2011 season, and it's now 11-0-1 in its last 12 series. The struggling Sox are 9-13 this month and Buchholz did little the help them early.

Texas opened the first with four-straight singles off Buchholz (3-8), with Nomar Mazara and Adrian Beltre each collecting RBI with their hits. Rougned Odor brought in another run with a bloop single as the Rangers had five hits inning.

That was plenty of support for lefty Martin Perez (7-4), who won his sixth-straight decision after allowing one run in six innings. That run came in the sixth as the Red Sox cut the Texas lead to 3-1 on the first career homer from Bryce Brentz.

Perez knew he had a margin for error Sunday because of a Texas offense that produced 37 hits in the series.

"You've got support, and you know the guys behind you do their job," Perez said. "You just have to go out there and give the quick inning and get out of their quick so they can make guys uncomfortable. I think I moved the ball around the zone really good and we got the win."

Perez struggled with his command, throwing just 58 of his 98 pitches for strikes. But he didn't let the game get away from him as he surrendered six hits, walked two and struck out two.

"Today was obviously a challenge for him in a sense that when you look up at the board and you see the ball-strike ratio, that he was underneath quite a bit," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. "Saw a little frustration today on the mound with his body language, which is something that we'll talk to him about, something we continue to work on with him. The thing that I like is that he continues to search and find ways to get himself out of the inning."

The Rangers answered the Brentz homer in the bottom of the sixth when designated hitter Prince Fielder lined a two-run homer to right. Buchholz was charged with five runs (four earned) in 5 1/3 innings on seven hits.

He felt like he pitched better after the first inning.

"In the first inning, it wasn't really a whole lot of balls that were hit hard, they were just hit where we weren't," Buchholz said. "That was basically the difference. I did a pretty good job of holding them down after that until the home run They have a good lineup, and they're hot right now. I'm sure we'll be facing them again."

Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts (50) dives back to first while Texas Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland (18) catches the throw in the fifth inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Texas won 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Buchholz start was the longest a Red Sox starter went in the series. David Price lasted just 2 1/3 innings Friday and Steven Wright was done after 4 2/3 innings Saturday.

"Based on this series, it's a struggle," Boston manager John Farrell said of his rotation. "We get 12-plus innings out of the rotation, we found ourselves in some holes. That's not the script that you're trying to draw up. As a whole, we have to continue to get better."

Texas pushed the lead to 6-1 on another run-scoring single from Beltre in the sixth inning. The Rangers finished with 10 hits, as Shin-Soo Choo went 3-for-4 and scored a pair of runs. Boston tallied 10 hits, with Mookie Betts and Bryce Brentz each collecting two.

David Ortiz, playing in his last regular-season game at Globe Life Park, pinch hit in the eighth inning and drove in the final Boston run with a single.

NOTES: Texas RHP Yu Darvish threw 30 pitches in a bullpen session Sunday. It was the first bullpen for Darvish since going on the 15-day disabled list June 13 with right shoulder discomfort. ... Boston DH David Ortiz was out of the starting lineup Sunday after team trainers recommended he take a day off. Ortiz has been in 68 of the first 74 games for the Red Sox and came into Sunday hitless in his last six at-bats. ... Red Sox OF Ryan LaMarre drew the start in left field, making him the sixth player to start in left for Boston in 2016. ... The five unearned runs the Rangers scored in the fifth inning Saturday were the most any team has scored in an inning this year with all the runs being unearned. ... Rangers LHP Derek Holland, who went on the disabled list June 22 with left shoulder inflammation, is expected to begin a throwing program this week.

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.