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Darvish leads Rangers into Boston

Aug 6, 2012 - 3:01 PM (Sports Network) - Yu Darvish hopes to put a miserable month behind him this evening when the Texas Rangers open a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Darvish was just 1-3 in four July starts and pitched to a 6.82 ERA. His start to August wasn't much better either, as he was awful against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Wednesday, surrendering seven runs and four hits in five innings. He also walked six batters, but did not get a decision in his team's 11-10 win.

"In general, I think I'm starting to maybe think about the walks too much, paying too much attention to not walking guys," Darvish said. "I think that's getting into my head, kind of affecting my mentality. I think the next time, whether I walk 10 guys, not being afraid to walk guys, but giving my all and helping the team win, that's all I'm going to care about."

Darvish, who has never faced the Red Sox, is 11-7 on the year with a 4.38 ERA.

Texas had its four-game winning streak stopped on Sunday, as it was denied a sweep in Kansas City, falling 7-6 to the Royals in 10 innings at Kauffman Stadium.

Elvis Andrus knocked in a pair of runs and Adrian Beltre went 3-for-4 with an RBI single and a run scored for Texas, which committed a pair of costly errors in the 10th that led to the loss.

"A weird game," Andrus said. "A lot of situations and a lot of chances to win, and we didn't take advantage of it."

Boston, meanwhile, got itself back into the win column on Sunday, as Franklin Morales allowed one run in a six-inning spot start, helping the Red Sox halt the bleeding and salvage the finale of a four-game set with Minnesota, 6-4.

Morales (3-2), who had entered from the bullpen in each of his previous five appearances and earned a save in his last, gave up only three hits and three walks while fanning four to give the Red Sox their first win in August.

After finishing July with a four-game win streak to get back in the AL Wild Card race, the team dropped its first four this month and entered the day five back of Oakland for the final postseason berth.

Adrian Gonzalez homered and Carl Crawford had three hits for the Red Sox, who are 3-4 on a crucial 10-game homestand.

"It's a big win," said Gonzalez. "Like I said a couple of days ago, we need to start winning these games. Hopefully today is the start of a good run for us."

Heading to the hill tonight for the Red Sox will be right-handed veteran Aaron Cook, who has lost his last four decisions and is 2-5 with a 5.24 ERA. Cook was hammered for the second straight start on Wednesday against Detroit, as he allowed six runs and nine hits in just 4 2/3 innings.

Cook had yielded six runs in four innings in his previous start and has served up two home runs in each of his last three outings.

"I've been missing location with my pitches," Cook said. "Unfortunately, I think I'm on one of the streaks I've never had in my career where I've given up multiple home runs in three games in a row now. In those situations, I might need to bear down a little bit harder and make sure that I'm definitely down in the zone, because if I'm still down in the zone, they're hitting balls on the ground and I think the outcome of the game is totally different."

Texas has won four of five from the Red Sox this season.