Benintendi, Price lead Sox's rout of Rangers

Benintendi, Price lead Sox's rout of Rangers

July 5th, 2017

ARLINGTON -- The Red Sox continued their winning ways on Independence Day, beating the Rangers, 11-4, behind a big night from rookie and a masterful performance by veteran .
Benintendi had five hits and six RBIs to lead Boston to its sixth straight win, tying its longest winning streak of the season. He had a pair of singles, a double and two homers -- including his 3-run homer in the fifth off Rangers starter -- to propel the Red Sox to their fourth straight win when playing on Independence Day.
"We had good at-bats -- we were relentless when [Darvish] made quality pitches, we fouled some good pitches off, we were able to use the whole field the other way … it was more of a united approach all the way through rather than any one specific guy," Boston manager John Farrell said of his team's success against Darvish.

Price didn't allow a run over six-plus innings, holding a team scoreless for the first time this year and extending Boston's lead over the Yankees in the American League East to four games. Darvish, on the other hand, didn't fare as well. He lasted 4 1/3 innings and gave up 11 hits and seven runs, both tying his career high.
• Price turns in dominating performance
"Up and down the lineup, they're challenging," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said of Boston's offense. "You've got to make quality pitches against these guys."
• Lack of fastball command haunts Darvish

Mike Napoli hit a three-run homer in the eighth to break up the shutout, his fourth straight game with a home run, and had three hits -- the only Ranger with multiple hits on Tuesday -- to bring his career total to 2,974. went deep in the ninth, but it was the last time the Rangers would cross the plate.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Sox strike first: Unlike Monday, Boston wasted no time cracking the scoreboard on Tuesday. 's double in the second inning went over the head of in center field, and Benintendi's single squirted past 's glove to score him. singled and so did , scoring Benintendi. Darvish finally got Betts to fly out to end the inning, but the Red Sox grabbed an early 2-0 lead. The bottom of the order paced Boston all night, as , Vazquez and Lin each had three hits.

"When you're getting some offensive production and runs scored out of that bottom third, it's likely going to be a good night," Farrell said.
Benintendi breaks it open: After making a leaping catch into the left-field wall to rob Napoli of extra-bases to end the fourth, Benintendi put the game out of reach in the fifth. He cranked an 81.9-mph slider from Darvish into the right-field bleachers with one out, extending Boston's lead to 7-0 and knocking Darvish out of the game for his shortest outing of the season.

"I felt like there were guys on in front of me every at-bat, and that took a lot of pressure off me," Benintendi said. More >
SIMPLY THE BETTS
Red Sox right fielder made a spectacular sliding catch in foul territory to end the second inning. According to Statcast™, Betts had to cover 129 feet in 6.1 seconds of opportunity time, reaching a sprint speed of 29.5 ft/sec. The catch probability was was only 32 percent, making it a solid four-star catch, one of 15 four-star plays he's made this year. That mark is second only to Twins center fielder , who has 16.

"He's a Gold Glover," said Price. "If the ball's hit in the air to our outfield, you have a pretty good feeling about it being an out."
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Benintendi became the third player in Red Sox history with minimums of five hits, four runs scored and six RBIs in a single game since RBIs first began being tracked in 1920. He joins Fred Lynn (who did it on June 8, 1975) and Bradley (Aug. 5, 2015).

REPLAY REVIEW
With two outs in the second inning, the Red Sox executed a double steal, with Vazquez taking third and Lin swiping second. threw to third, but Vazquez was ruled safe. Banister challenged the ruling, but it stood after a review of one minute, 50 seconds. Banister's record on challenges this year fell to 24-for-39.
WHAT'S NEXT
Red Sox:Doug Fister (0-1, 4.91 ERA) will make his third start of the season for the Red Sox in their series finale with Texas. Fister has allowed three or fewer earned runs in six of his last seven starts against the Rangers. First pitch is slated for 8:05 p.m. ET.
Rangers: Right-hander (3-7, 3.87 ERA) starts the series finale vs. Boston at 7:05 p.m. CT. He's pitching on extended five-days' rest after taking the loss on Thursday in Cleveland, where he was struck by a broken bat on the right forearm.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.