Texas' offense falls short despite deGrom's sharp outing vs. Sox

BOSTON -- Despite another quality effort from starter Jacob deGrom at Fenway Park on Saturday, the Rangers were unable to get enough offense and fell to the Red Sox, 6-3.

The right-hander faced the minimum six batters through two innings before Boston’s bats snuck four singles by the infield in the third inning, scoring twice.

Following an RBI single by Ranger-killer Wilyer Abreu in that frame, deGrom locked in and allowed only one more Boston batter to reach base before his departure.

“I was just trying to go out there and put up zeroes and give us a chance,” said deGrom. “[The third] inning is frustrating, especially right after we score and then to go out and give up the lead is not ideal.”

“Jacob deGrom was Jacob deGrom,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “On the attack all day. I expected exactly what he gave us and there’s no surprise in giving us a chance to win. The challenge for us is providing more cushion on the offensive side for him and for our starting pitchers. We had our chances, just couldn’t do it.”

Though he would not factor into the decision, Texas got six strong innings out of deGrom, who struck out five, allowed six hits and did not surrender a walk for the fifth time this season.

“I had a great feel for my changeup today,” deGrom added. “I had a couple that weren’t good, one in that third inning. I felt I had a good slider and was able to locate my fastball well, for the most part. It was just that third inning where I wasn’t quite as sharp as I wish I would have been.”

The right-hander is fourth in the American League with a 0.99 WHIP and his strikeout total improved to 89 on the year, sixth-most in the league.

The Rangers opened up the scoring in the third inning on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Wyatt Langford that scored Nicky Lopez from first base.

Boston battled right back with its two runs in the fourth. It was the only time that the hosts were able to get to deGrom, who faced only three batters in an inning on four separate occasions.

A Michael Helman sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth plated Josh Jung to bring things even, but the Rangers couldn’t push any more across in the inning, leaving two runners stranded.

On a day in which the single ruled – there were 18 total between the teams – none was bigger than Ceddanne Rafaela’s in the seventh off of reliever Robby Ahlstrom, scoring two and breaking the deadlock.

Jake Burger pulled his club back within a run in the eighth, swatting a 421-foot solo shot to center field, the 100th home run of his career and the Rangers’ lone extra-base hit on the day.

“I would have preferred it with the bases loaded,” said Burger. “It’s something that I circled as a goal that I wanted to get to personally. I try not to put myself on too many goals. Getting there is incredible.”

The Texas offense collected 10 hits on the day, nine of them singles, but they also left 10 men on base as the big hit eluded the club in its time of need.

“I felt like we had them on the ropes a couple of times,” said Schumaker. “I think there’s some frustration in there as far as just wanting to get a hit and breakthrough when deGrom’s on the mound. He’s fighting for us, went six innings, two runs and felt really good about that ... unfortunately, we didn’t get the hits.”