Rangers' Bats, Pitching Dominate Sloppy Red Sox In 10-1 Rout

The Texas Rangers turned in a complete performance in Boston, pounding the Red Sox in a 10-1 rout.

Author:
Chris Halicke
Aug 21, 2021 11:44 PM EDT

It hasn't happened often this season, but on Saturday night, just about everything went right for the Texas Rangers.

Texas pummeled the Boston Red Sox by a score of 10-1. The offense racked up 17 hits and went 8-for-22 with runners in scoring position. The Rangers also capitalized on Boston's mistakes, which included an astounding five errors.

All nine Rangers starters recorded at least one base hit, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Adolis García and Andy Ibáñez leading the way with three apiece. In addition, Nick Solak returned to the lineup after his stint at Triple-A Round Rock, going 2-for-5 with an RBI single in his first at-bat of the game.

The Rangers hit seven doubles, which are the most in a game for Texas since April 27, 2019 at Seattle. Texas only recorded seven RBI on the night, with two runs coming unearned and another scoring on a wild pitch.

"That was one of our better games on all sides of the ball," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "The at-bat quality was way better. You could see the grind. You could see the fight ... They made some mistakes and we made them pay. The one thing I told the team after the game, the thing I was probably the most impressed with and was proud of is the fact that we played hard."

While the Red Sox threw the ball errantly all over the field, the Rangers defense was sound throughout the night. DJ Peters made another highlight reel catch in the bottom of the third inning. Rafael Devers hit a long fly ball to center field and Peters timed his jump perfectly and took a hit away from the Red Sox third baseman.

Red Sox first baseman Bobby Dalbec moved up the bases, sure that Devers' ball would bounce off the wall for a base hit. After making the catch, Peters fired a strike to first base to double off Dalbec.

"That's a huge play right there," said Rangers third baseman Brock Holt. "The game changes if that ball is off the wall."

Jordan Lyles was dominant on the mound for the Rangers. He was in control all night, giving up just one run on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts in seven strong innings. Lyles made a small pitch to go out for the eighth inning, but with Sunday's game in jeopardy due to Hurricane Henri, the Rangers decided to use the bullpen for the final two innings.

With the game out of hand in the ninth inning, Nick Snyder came on to make his Major League debut — and all of the hype from a strong performance in the minor leagues was justified for at least one night. Snyder needed a few pitches to calm the nerves, but consistently hit triple digits with his fastball while bringing an occasional sharp slider to keep hitters off balance.

Snyder pitched a clean inning and recorded his first career strikeout against J.D. Martinez for the second out of the inning.

The Rangers (43-80) and Red Sox (70-55) are slated for first pitch at 12:10 p.m. CT on Sunday afternoon. However, the weather may postpone the game to a later date. At the time of this article, no decision had been made regarding the game, citing a possibility the teams could squeeze in the game on Sunday.