BOSTON — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (18-19) fall below .500 as Lucas Giolito gets shelled at soggy Fenway and Boston falls, 6-1, to the Rangers:
1) Giolito’s Red Sox debut was encouraging last week in Toronto as he struck out seven and allowed three earned runs in six innings against the Jays. His second outing was a complete disaster. Texas tagged him for six earned runs on 10 hits in 3 ⅔ innings and he needed 74 pitches to get just 11 outs. To stay in the rotation, he’ll need to pitch better.
Things really unraveled in the fourth when Giolito, pitching with the Red Sox down 1-0, allowed seven hits (including five to the first six batters). The Rangers put up a five-spot before Brennan Bernardino came in.
2) That’s not where the bizarreness of Giolito’s outing stopped. Per Statcast, he threw 45 fastballs and 27 changeups, meaning just two of his 74 pitches (one curveball, one slider) were breaking balls. It might have been a case of him not being able to get any sort of grip on his breaking pitches on a really, really wet night.
There’s a case to be made that the Red Sox and Rangers should not have played. Giolito almost made that case singlehandedly when he wiped out on the mound warming up for the second inning. Pitching in those conditions is the last thing a guy coming off a major injury needed to do.
3) Nathan Eovaldi, once again, showed the Red Sox why they should have brought him back following 2022. After allowing just two earned runs and three hits while striking out nine in six innings during the opening series, he dominated his former team Tuesday, striking out seven and allowing a lone run in six innings. The veteran is down to a 2.03 ERA in his first eight starts of the year.
4) Eovaldi was aided by another complete no-show night for a Red Sox offense that has had way too many of them so far in 2025. The Red Sox had just three hits through the fifth and only scored when Kristian Campbell followed an Alex Bregman double with a two-out, RBI single in the sixth.
The Sox had six total hits.
5) Trevor Story is becoming a prolonged tough watch at the plate. He was 0-for-4 with three more strikeouts against Eovaldi and Texas’ bullpen in the loss and is now a staggering 6-for-50 (.120) with 19 strikeouts (and just three walks) in his last 12 games dating back to April 22. He hit .378 in an 18-game stretch before then.
6) Abraham Toro’s first start in a Red Sox uniform was eventful. In the second, he caught a line drive and landed on the first base bag with a runner on, completing a convenient, inning-ending double play that was big at the time. He later laced a 334-foot single to left field but was thrown out by Wyatt Langford while trying to stretch it into a double. There were bright spots for a player with few expectations.
7) The Red Sox have nine straight games against talented teams (Texas, Kansas City and Detroit) starting Tuesday, so someone needed to take the bullet and save the bullpen. That was converted starter Sean Newcomb on Tuesday, as he threw four (shutout) innings to cover the end of the game, tossing 77 pitches after throwing just one inning in a 12-day span since being replaced in the starting five. It’s the kind of effort Alex Cora will cite as important if the Red Sox bounce back and win the series.
8) All the talk from Cora about the importance about dominating at Fenway this year hasn’t led to much in the way of results. Through 17 home games, the Red Sox are just 9-9 — slightly better than their 9-10 road record. They were 38-43 at Fenway last year.
Boston is under .500 for the first time since the club was 9-10 on April 15.
9) Good debut for new Rangers hitting coach Bret Boone. His offense had 16 hits.
10) The Red Sox, losers of five of six, will get a chance to right the ship behind Tanner Houck (0-2, 6.38 ERA) on Wednesday. Righty Tyler Mahle (3-1, 1.19 ERA) will take the hill for the Ranters. First pitch is at 6:45 p.m. ET.
