BOSTON - First impressions from the Boston Red Sox’ 11-6 victory over the Texas Rangers.
* This was far from Steven Wright's best outing, but with the offensive backing, it was good enough.
Wednesday night marked just the second time all season that he had allowed more than four earned runs.
He seemed to run out of gas later in the outing, tagged for two runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh.
He also had the comfort of pitching to the scoreboard, as the Red Sox raced out to an 11-1 lead that enabled Wright to be more aggressive than he normally would be.
Boston Red Sox
* The lopsided score gave the Red Sox a chance to have Craig Kimbrel work through his non-save situation issues.
John Farrell wasn't pleased with Kimbrel's performance Tuesday, calling it "perplexing'' and a "little disappointing.'' That may not sound angry, but for a manager known for protecting his players publicly, it was tantamount to a dressing down.
With the Sox up by five -- and, importantly, a day off tomorrow -- Farrell sent Kimbrel back for the ninth to work on pitching in non-save situations. Kimbrel had been working on flat ground Wednesday.
There's clearly more work to be done. After retiring the first two hitters quickly, Kimbrel issued back-to-back walks before finally closing things out.
* Another homer, another milestone for David Ortiz.
Ortiz hit a two-run bullet to right in the first inning, marking his 20th homer of the season. Ortiz has now hit 20 or more homers in each of his last 15 seasons, 14 of them in Boston.
To put that into perspective, only two players in MLB history -- Hank Aaron (20 straight seasons) and Babe Ruth (16) -- have had longer consecutive streaks of 20 or more homers.
That's a remarkable display of consistency.
* Credit Bryce Brentz with staying ready.
Since Brock Holt returned to the lineup, Brentz hasn't been playing nearly as much. Holt started four of the previous five games, but with a lefty (Martin Perez) going Wednesday night, the move was made give Holt a night off and put Brentz back in the lineup.
Brentz contributed two singles and knocked in three runs in the rare start. That he was able to keep sharp despite being accustomed to playing most every day in his minor league career is a credit to him.