Red Sox Shut Down By CJ Wilson in 4-0 Loss

AP/LM Otero

Rangers 4 Red Sox 0

Winning Pitcher: CJ Wilson (13-5)

Losing Pitcher: Erik Bedard (4-9)

Recap

Erik Bedard pitched pretty solidly on Monday night, but made one big mistake in the 6th, and got no run support en route to his ninth loss of 2011. Bedard gave up his first run in the third inning, in which he gave up a one-out walk and two singles as Elvis Andrus knocked in Chris Gentry. It would be the only run Bedard would give up until the 6th inning. After allowing Josh Hamilton and Michael Young to reach on back-to-back singles, Bedard left a fastball up in the zone to Mike Napoli, who hit it into the left-center field seats to give the Rangers a 4-0 cushion. It was the one real mistake that Bedard made, but it was a big one, as it gave the Rangers the insurance they would need to finish this one out. After not allowing a home run since late June, Monday night marked the second consecutive start in which Bedard has succumbed to the long ball. In total, Bedard ended up pitching 6 innings, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Since coming to the Red Sox, Bedard has only allowed five walks in his four starts, and has been increasing his pitch count in every start, throwing 108 pitches last night. He has yet to pitch past the sixth, however.

Quick Hits

• Last night, once again, Terry Francona had the lethal one-two punch of Marco Scutaro and Darnell McDonald. The two combined to go 0-8 with three strike outs. The team is sorely missing Jacoby Ellsbury, who should be back Tuesday in Texas.
• The Red Sox only managed four singles in the game, three of which were from their 3-4-5 spots (Pedroia, Gonzalez and Lowrie). This was one of the game where missing Ellsbury, Ortiz and Youkilis was a very big deal.
• Franklin Morales and Matt Albers each pitched one shutout inning. For Morales, the outing extended his scoreless streak to seven straight outing. Albers, on the other hand, had allowed eight runs in his previous 1.2 innings.

The Red Sox and Rangers will continue their series Tuesday night at 8:05 PM ET. Boston will send John Lackey (11-9 6.02) to the mound against Texas'  Colby Lewis (11-8 3.83).