BOSTON (AP) – Hank Blalock was 2-for-3 with a homer and Kameron Loe earned his first career complete game when the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 6-0 Friday night in a game shortened to 51/2 innings by rain.
Loe (2-3) allowed five hits and a walk, striking out four before the game was called in the bottom of the sixth with a 2-2 count on leadoff hitter David Ortiz. Matt Clement (3-3) gave up four runs and six hits, walking two and striking out four in five innings. The Red Sox put runners on second and third in the third and fourth innings, both times with one out. But Loe pitched out of it with two groundouts each time, then got the side in order in the fifth.
Fog enveloped the stadium in the second inning and, in the third, a heavy rain began to fall. After Clement’s third pitch to Brad Wilkerson in the fourth, the grounds crew ran on the field to put a drying compound on the mound and home plate area. Head groundskeeper Dave Mellor was out to update the umpiring crew on the weather during every half inning. But the game kept going until the umpires signaled for the tarp at 9:16 p.m.; it was called at 10:04.
Rain is expected to plague the entire three-game homestand.
Clement last pitched on May 4, and his start was pushed back because of a rainout when the Red Sox decided to keep the rest of the rotation on its regular days. He gave up Blalock’s homer to lead off the second, then Texas scored three in the third. Rod Barajas led off with a double and Gary Matthews Jr. singled to make it 2-0. Two outs later, Phil Nevin doubled in a run and Blalock singled in another before Clement got Kevin Mench on a popup to second to end the inning. The Rangers added two in the sixth off Mike Holtz, who hit Wilkerson to lead off the inning and then walked Barajas. They both scored on Matthews’ triple.
Notes: Boston C Jason Varitek’s fourth-inning double snapped an 0-for-14 slump. … Blalock extended his hitting streak to nine games with a second-inning homer, his seventh of the season. … Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo made his first road trip with the team since surgery for prostate cancer. As scheduled, he worked batting practice but not the game. … Red Sox manager Terry Francona said CF Coco Crisp’s recovery from a broken finger has been delayed because of an undisclosed illness.
AP-ES-05-12-06 2215EDT
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