Thoughts on a 5-0 Rangers loss

Boston 5, Rangers 0

• Well, it was close for much of the game, anyway.
• A pretty decent start for Mike Minor, who gave up two runs in the first inning on a Steve Pearce home run, then shut the Red Sox down until he was pulled with one out in the sixth. 5.1 IP, 4 Ks, 0 walks, 6 hits. You would expect Minor to have needed fewer than 93 pitches to accomplish that, but Boston forced him deep into counts. In any case, he continues to pitch like a serviceable starter.
• Minor was relieved in the sixth by Cory Gearren, who made his Ranger debut a day after being added to the roster, and pitched 1.2 shutout innings. With several relievers on the d.l. and a couple of others on the trade block, the Rangers can use a functional reliever right now, and Gearren looked pretty functional today. Let’s hope he can keep it up.
• Jesse Chavez was asked to keep it close in the eighth, but gave up a three run home run to J.D. Martinez. I don’t think there was much faith in a possible comeback anyway, but that shot pretty much killed what faint hopes there were.
• The bats were pretty much useless today. Six hits altogether, no player having more than one. Robinson Chirinos had a leadoff triple that would have been a home run in most parks, but of course was stranded on third because that’s how tonight went.
• Rougned Odor had an opposite field hit, if you are looking for a positive from the offense. And Nomar Mazara, who has been slumping, was 1 for 3 with a walk.
• Anyway, Boston is really really good, and Texas isn’t. Hopefully Texas can take one of the remaining two and escape to Baltimore without anyone getting hurt.