Right-hander Luke Jackson surrendered a three-run homer in the ninth inning that sent the Texas Rangers to a 5-2 loss on Opening Day against the Boston Red Sox.
ARLINGTON — Opening Day is done, and the Texas Rangers are 0-1. The offense still can’t hit, the front office should have signed a closer, and two of the relievers they did sign need to go.
Does that sound about right?
That summed up the knee-jerk reaction to a 5-2 season-opening loss to the Red Sox, who struck from three ninth-inning runs on a Wilyer Abreu home run off of Luke Jackson. The blast into the Rangers’ bullpen sent a sellout crowd at Globe Life Field home feeling testy.
Too many of those losses could become costly, but the Rangers don’t have much cause for concern. In fact, they like their chances the next time, every time, they find themselves in the same spot as they did Thursday late in the game.
“I think we’re going to win most of those games,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “It didn’t happen today. But you get something from your starter, you get your guys out there, that’s what you’re hoping for.”
Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi allowed two runs in six innings, striking out nine, and newcomers Kevin Pillar and Kyle Higashioka drove in runs. Left-hander Robert Garcia was shaky out of the bullpen in his Rangers debut, but right-hander Chris Martin record the last out of the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth.
Jackson was the choice for the ninth in a spot normally reserved for a team’s closer. On a team that doesn’t have one, he appears to be getting the first crack at the job.
The right-hander caught Triston Casas looking to start the inning before issuing a walk to Trevor Story, who quickly stole second base. Kristian Campbell followed with a chopper to third that Josh Jung couldn’t handle.
The play was generously scored a hit. An out would have given the Rangers the chance to walk Abreu, but Jackson pitched to him with runners at the corners. The second pitch was a hanging slider that Abreu didn’t miss.
“It was one of those days where, man, I whish I could have back,” Jackson said. “Sometimes you take it on the chain and move on to the next one.”
Eovaldi was kicking himself, too, despite tying the club record more most strikeouts on Opening Day. He didn’t like his inability to hold the two leads the Rangers gave him at 1-0 and 2-1.
The Red Sox pulled even both times in their next at-bat.
“We scored twice first, and the very next thing, I gave it up. Frustrating,” Eovaldi said. “I feel like the biggest thing in baseball is a shutdown inning, get the boys back in the dugout and keep it rolling.”
There wasn’t much rolling against Boston lefty Garrett Crochet, though the Rangers made him throw 88 pitches in five innings. Their early rallies ran out of steam, and the Red Sox’s bullpen allowed only two hits in four innings.
The timely hit eluded the Rangers, as did the long ball. Higashioka’s RBI double in the fourth hit off the center-field wall, and Jung’s long single in the second rattled around the right-field corner.
Otherwise, the bats didn’t do much damage. That left the Rangers’ bullpen susceptible to what happened in the ninth.
“We got shut down to the two runs,” Bochy said. “I don’t see that happening a lot because of this offense, but we faced a really good pitcher today. I thought this would be a tight game. That’s what it was going into the ninth, and they broke through.”
Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com
