boston – Derek Holland keeps getting plenty of run support and tries to pitch as though he doesn’t.
Ian Kinsler, David Murphy and Elvis Andrus homered to back Holland’s two-hit performance over seven innings, and the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-0, on Friday night. The Rangers have provided the left-hander with a major league-best 7.52 runs per game.
“That’s something to be thankful for,” Holland said, “but at the same time, they may be giving me that, I’ve got to do my part, and that’s to make pitches and keep the momentum on our side. It’s amazing, but, at the same time, I’ve got to stay focused.”
Holland (13-5) did just that by holding Boston to singles by Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez. Neither made it to second base. Ellsbury was caught stealing, and Gonzalez was stranded when Kevin Youkilis struck out.
Holland won for the seventh time in eight decisions, striking out six and walking none. Merkin Valdez and Michael Gonzalez finished up with one hitless inning each. That was an outstanding job against a lineup with strong lefty hitters such as Ellsbury, Gonzalez and David Ortiz.
“Against that team, whether you’re throwing righty or lefty, you have to execute pitches,” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “You certainly can’t get into a slugging match with them. You have to pitch, and tonight, we pitched.”
They also hit, starting with two runs in the first inning and four in the second. For the 14th time in Holland’s past 19 starts, the Rangers scored in the opening inning.
“We would like to” start strong, leadoff hitter Kinsler said. “It doesn’t always turn out that way. The game’s not that easy, but we love to get our pitchers the lead early, especially on the road (to) take the crowd out of it and give our pitchers something to work with. And tonight, we were able to do that.”
The Rangers’ first homer was a three-run shot by Kinsler in the second, his 24th of the year and his third in four at-bats. In the fifth, Murphy hit a solo homer, his eighth, and Andrus added a two-run blast, his fourth, after a single by Craig Gentry.
Murphy went 4-for-5, and Andrus scored four runs as Texas posted its 12th road shutout, the most in the majors since Atlanta had 12 in 1998.
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