All it took was a strike three call to fire up Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy in the sixth inning of Tuesday night's game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park -- a critical called third strike no less.
Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford stepped into the batter's box with the bases loaded as Texas trailed Boston, 6-4, in the top of the sixth inning. Facing Red Sox relief pitcher Lucas Sims, Langford was rung up by home plate umpire Erich Bacchus on an outside pitch, which ended the rally. Bochy responded by storming out of the dugout toward Bacchus, but before the two were within arm's length of each other, the 69-year-old skipper had already been ejected from the game by Bacchus.
"We had the bases loaded (with) one out, down two (runs). So we kind of created that situation that we were hoping to (get a chance) to tie the game or take the lead," Bochy said after Boston's 9-4 win, per Bally Sports. "... The pitch on Langford; this kid's gotten the bad end of those calls too many times. It's just gotten old and it's hard to tell from our dugout, but I know he's frustrated and I just thought it was a little out. It's hard to tell, like I said. That's why I went out there. I'm just tired of him getting the bad end of those calls. It's a big call and it changes the count, bases loaded, puts a little more pressure on the pitcher but the call went their way."
Langford's inning-ending strikeout delivered a gut-punch to the Rangers, who were trying to overcome a 6-0 deficit. Instead, Texas relief pitcher José Leclerc surrendered three runs to Boston in the eighth inning, which provided the Red Sox with more than enough insurance to send the Rangers to the loser's column. It was especially deflating considering Texas -- the reigning World Series champions -- have reached desperation mode, now 10 games back in the American League wild-card race.
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The Red Sox, on the other hand, will look to build momentum off their consecutive wins against Texas with a chance to complete a three-game sweep during Wednesday night's series finale. The schedule hits its do-or-die point for Boston from that point forward.