BOSTON -- Rangers manager Jeff Banister could have gone to his bullpen in the seventh inning. But Banister said he felt Perez was in control and liked the matchup of hitters his left-hander was going to face.
That's why he held off going to the bullpen while leading 3-1 even though he had a fully rested Sam Dyson, Keone Kela and Matt Bush ready to close out the game. When Banister finally went to Dyson, the right-hander wasn't effective anyway, and the Red Sox scored seven runs in the seventh on their way to a 9-4 victory over the Rangers at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.
Dyson had allowed just one run in his previous six outings and had been particularly impressive in 1 2/3 scoreless innings against the Tigers on Sunday. This time he couldn't get anybody out in an outing reminiscent of his early-season struggles.
"Martin threw the ball well really well," Dyson said. "I came in with two guys on and couldn't get anybody out. It's unfortunate. Sometimes they hit it where they are, and sometimes where they aren't. I'm going to keep fighting through it."
Perez entered the seventh having allowed just one run on five hits. He had also retired nine of the last 11 batters, beginning with a strikeout of Xander Bogaerts to get him out of a stressful 35-pitch third-inning jam.
Perez appeared in control, but also had thrown 103 pitches. Pitching coach Doug Brocail asked Perez how he felt, and the pitcher said he could continue.
"I always want to pitch," Perez said.
The Red Sox had right-handed-hitting Chris Young leading off the inning, followed by left-hander Andrew Benintendi and right-hander Sam Travis. The Red Sox also had left-handed pinch-hitters Mitch Moreland and Josh Rutledge on the bench.
"Look, that set of hitters [coming up] he had done a pretty good job with," Banister said. "I felt Martin was in control. We were going batter to batter. We just couldn't close out the seventh."
Banister scoffed at the idea it would have been better to let Dyson start the inning clean rather than come in with runners on base.
"Those guys are well-versed in those situations," Banister said. "They've got to come in and get outs in those situations."
Banister stayed with Perez, who retired Young on a fly to left. Benintendi followed with a hard grounder that second baseman Rougned Odor knocked down while diving to his right. But he could not recover in time; Young was safe on an infield single.
After a visit from Banister, Perez faced one more batter, and Travis singled to center, moving Benintendi to third. That's when Banister brought in Dyson, knowing the Red Sox would use their left-handed hitters for Sandy Leon and Deven Marrero at the bottom of the order.
"I felt like we needed a fresh arm there," Banister said. "Dyson has been electric the last couple of times out. I felt like the way he was pitching, he would be able to get some outs for us. It was time to allow the bullpen to do what it was designed to do. [If] the moves don't work, they don't work."