Top Play (WPA): Perhaps surprisingly, the Red Sox recorded the top two plays by WPA — a fourth inning double by Dustin Pedroia (+.120), which set Boston up with runners on the corners and no outs, and a ninth inning leadoff double by David Ortiz (+.105).

Mitch Moreland provided much of the offense for the Rangers, homering over the Monster in the fourth inning (+.090) and — less menacingly — grounding out to second with the bases loaded in the first (+.076), a play which, thanks to Xander Bogaerts’ error (on a double-play-transfer attempt) and Delino DeShields’ combination of foot speed and smart base running, led to two runs.

Bottom Play (WPA): Less surprisingly, the Red Sox claimed the five biggest negative WPA plays (and nine of the bottom 10) last night, led by Hanley Ramirez’s fourth inning dribbler back to the pitcher that ended with Pedroia, who was on third, out at the plate (-.085). That’s the closest the Red Sox would come to adding a second run.

Key Moment: In the fifth inning, the Red Sox looked like they were putting together a rally against Koufax Rodriguez. With one out, Bogaerts drew a walk and then, with Daniel Nava at the plate, the Red Sox executed a perfect hit-and-run, as Nava grounded one through the vacated hole at second, setting Boston up with runners on first and third. Of course, when things are going bad, sometimes they go really bad. Turned out the ball clanked off an unsuspecting Bogaerts on his way to second, leaving the Red Sox in a less favorable situation: a runner on first and Sandy Leon at the dish. They didn’t score.

Trends to Watch: Good Buchholz, Bad Buchholz — meet In-Between Buchholz. The Red Sox’ righty wasn’t great, but he certainly wasn’t bad, pitching into the eighth inning while surrendering three runs (two earned), striking out four, and walking two. Don’t look now, but that’s three straight quality starts for Buchholz, a feat he’s only accomplished one other time since the start of the 2014 season. It’s encouraging to see the up-and-down could-be ace, who still has plenty of potential, fight through a start that could have got away from him early, even if allowing a two-spot in the first looks like a mountain this offense isn’t currently equipped to climb.

Then there’s this:

10th straight time Sox have scored two or fewer earned runs against a lefthanded starter, a run that stretches to 4/20/15.

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) May 22, 2015

That stretch features some good lefties, like Drew Smyly and C.C. Sabathia, but also a number of less inspiring hurlers. Here’s the list, which includes each pitcher’s PECOTA-projected ERA:

What’s somewhat befuddling about the struggles against lefties is that the Red Sox don’t have an extreme lefty-swinging offense. Sure, there’s Ortiz (and he’s struggled mightily vs. lefties) and Sandoval is far superior against righties, but most of the lineup — Mookie Betts, Pedroia, Ramirez, Mike Napoli, Bogaerts, etc. — bats from the right side. Those righties, however, haven’t taken advantage of the platoon advantage, hitting just .206/.310/.361 against lefties this season. And the lefties (mostly Ortiz), well, they’ve really struggled versus same-handed pitching, posting a cringe-worthy .446 OPS. The good news: those are both small samples, and there’s no reason why the Sox shouldn’t improve against left handers as the season progresses.

Coming Next: Speaking of lefties, Boston will face a pair this weekend (C.J. Wilson and Hector Santiago), with the Angels set to visit Fenway for a three-game set. On Friday night, however, it’s an all right-handed affair, as Rick Porcello faces off against Garrett Richards. Hopefully the Red Sox are able to find their offensive stride against the Angels before they head out for a seven-game road trip to Minnesota and Texas.

Photo by Winslow Townson/USA Today Sports Images