Aug 6 (Reuters) - The Boston Red Sox showed little mercy to
struggling pitcher Yu Darvish as they roughed up the Japanese
rookie in a 9-2 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on
Monday.
After a sparkling start to his first campaign in the Majors,
which included a spot on the American League All Star Team,
Darvish (11-8) has fallen on hard times and is just 1-4 in his
last six starts.
Boston strung together six runs and 11 hits against him on
Monday as Darvish was lifted in the seventh inning where he
trailed 6-1.
The Red Sox padded their lead in the eighth with three more
runs behind Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford who finished with
three RBIs each.
Despite the loss, Texas (63-45) stayed tied with the New
York Yankees for the best record in the AL. Boston (55-55) is
trying to climb their way back into contention in the AL East.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Daniel
Magnowski)