Nathan Eovaldi pitched six strong innings and the visiting Texas Rangers collected 16 hits en route to a 6-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox in soggy conditions Tuesday night.
Eovaldi (3-2) limited the Red Sox to one run on five hits to lower his ERA to 2.03. He walked one and struck out seven.
Josh Smith and Adolis Garcia each had three hits for the Rangers, who took control by scoring five runs in the fourth inning. Texas received two hits from Joc Pederson, Marcus Semien, Jonah Heim and Evan Carter.
Boston’s Lucas Giolito (0-1) made his second start of the season and surrendered six runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two.
The Red Sox had six hits and struck out 12 times. Leadoff hitter Jarren Duran was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and Trevor Story also struck out three times. Rafael Devers and Kristian Campbell each struck out twice.
One of the few highlights for the Red Sox was the outing turned in by reliever Sean Newcomb, who tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, struck out three and walked one.
The Red Sox have lost three games in a row and five of their last six.
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead when Wyatt Langford scored on a Giolito wild pitch in the first inning, then added five runs on seven hits in the fourth. The five-run inning featured an RBI double from Pederson, a Garcia sacrifice fly that drove in Pederson and RBI singles from Heim, Smith and Langford.
Boston scored its run in the bottom of the sixth. Alex Bregman reached base on a two-out double and scored on Campbell’s single.
Texas has won four of its five games with Boston this season.