Tavarez and Sox unravel in loss

A harsher scorer might have assessed two errors on the play, which became the tipping point of a night that went from bad to worse for Tavarez and the Sox. Tavarez, who saw an early 2-0 lead evaporate on the Drew misplay, subsequently loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, then watched his stationary left fielder, Manny Ramírez, play a line drive by Nelson Cruz that nearly hit him in the shoelaces into a two-run single.

"I thought it was going to be caught," Tavarez said. "He played it on one bounce, he played it the safety way, I think he did the right thing.

"I'm with Manny with whatever he does out there. We have one of the greatest sluggers in the game out there."

The Rangers led, 4-2. Tavarez, who had escaped a bases-loaded jam the inning before, wore himself out in that 36-pitch inning and was gone after the fourth. "I guess it was a long inning," he said of the third. "My whole game plan was to attack, attack with my fastball, get guys to swing on the first pitch, get some ground balls. But I changed my plan in the third -- I don't know why -- and I walked five guys; that really hurt."

The Sox crept within a run in the sixth on Jason Varitek's run-scoring double, but the bullpen squandered any chance of taking Tavarez off the hook during a four-run Rangers uprising in the bottom of the inning that reintroduced the bunny hop to highlight reels -- and on the night before Easter, no less.

The hopper, Sammy Sosa, had retreated to his native Dominican Republic last year after disappointing Congress and then the Baltimore Orioles with his sorry act, first at the steroid hearings and then on the field. But last night he showed there may yet be some life left in his 38-year-old swing by launching a 409-foot home run into the center-field seats off Romero with a man aboard.