ARLINGTON, Texas -- Taking their act on the road didn't change things any for the Red Sox. They picked up right where they left off at the end of their disappointing homestand, losing a one-sided game with a poor performance by their starting pitcher, suffering their fourth straight loss, 9-1, to the Texas Rangers.
Felix Doubront was blasted for seven runs -- tying a career high - in five-plus innings. He allowed four runs in the third inning as the Rangers sent eight men to the plate, then allowed a mammoth two-run homer to noted Red Sox killer Mike Napoli in the sixth, ending his night.
It marked the fourth straight game in which a Red Sox starting pitcher allowed at least five runs. Boston has allowed 37 runs in the last four losses.
Scott Feldman, making a fill-in start for Roy Oswalt, limited the Sox to a single run over seven innings. A solo homer from former Ranger Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the second was the only Red Sox run of the night.
Erorrs proved costly for the Sox. Dustin Pedroia's throwing error helped contribute to the four-run third and Carl Crawford played what should have been a single by Craig Gentry into a two-base error in the sixth when the Rangers added on with five more runs off Doubront and reliever Franklin Morales.
The loss dropped the Red Sox under the .500 mark (48-49) for the first time since June 16. The last time the Sox were under the break even mark this late into a season was in 2001, the last season in which they finished with a losing record.