I Don't Think Even Aaron Cook Expected To Pitch That Well Against The Rangers

There was plenty to like about Monday night's game at Fenway Park. Boston blew out a very good team, they racked up 14 hits, Aaron Cook pitched a gem and it was all over in two hours and 47 minutes which gave us plenty of time to watch tape delayed London Olympics events in which we already knew the final outcome.

The Red Sox (55-55, 29-32 home) rolled 9-2 over the Rangers (63-45, 29-24 away) in the series opener.

Cook (3-5) went seven innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Yu Darvish (11-8) looked like Dice-K if he struck out more batters. He stayed out there for 6.2 innings (don't ask me why) and 123 pitches but was rocked for six earned runs on 11 hits with nine strikeouts and four walks.

The top of the Red Sox lineup had their most productive game of the season. Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez combined for seven runs, 11 hits (8 doubles) and eight RBIs. As a team, Boston went an impressive 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Ex-Red Sox David Murphy gave Texas a short-lived 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI single. Boston responded with two runs in the third and three in the fourth. Crawford and Gonzalez had RBI doubles then Ellsbury had an RBI double, Crawford had a sacrifice fly and Pedroia had an RBI double.

Gonzalez's RBI single in the seventh made it 6-1 and the Red Sox scored three more times in the eighth. Crawford had an RBI double, Gonzalez added another run-scoring single and Cody Ross notched a sacrifice fly.

Another ex-Red Sox, Adrian Beltre, blasted a solo homer (19th of the season) in the ninth but Boston was able to limit the Rangers to that last run.

Boston looks for its third straight victory tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) as Jon Lester (5-9) takes on Ryan Dempster (0-0). I've got a feeling it's going to be a high-scoring affair, a pitcher's duel would totally shock me.

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