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About Last Night: Eddie Guardado’s Reach Extends Past Eighth Inning Of Rangers 5-1 Win Over Boston

D-tails: Rangers 5, Red Sox 1
• Boxscore, Standings, Depot Live Game Blog
• Notes: Hicks says its “business as usual”

BOSTON – There are two types of contributions players can make to help a team on a daily basis.

There are things that help win games and there are things that help define seasons.

The Rangers got plenty of the former Friday night in ending their eight-game losing streak at Fenway Park with a 5-1 win over Boston. And they got one big example of the latter during and after the game from Eddie Guardado.

In the short terms, there was a brilliant at-bat by SS Elvis Andrus in the fifth inning to help make a two-out rally take hold. There were three hits from 1B Chris Davis, including a two-out RBI double of his own. There was sharp work from RHP Kevin Millwood, who started with seven shutout innings, and RHP Darren O’Day, who finished off the game because RHP Frank Francisco was unavailable with a sore shoulder.

And that’s where Guardado comes in.

First, he stopped a Red Sox rally with some savvy veteran pitching. After the game, he pulled Francisco aside for a 15-minute talk about his situation, then went on to pull some college-boy pranks to double the rest of the team over in laughter.

It’s hard to separate one contribution from the other.

“Eddie was just unbelievable,” said Millwood, who allowed the first three batters to reach base, accounting for a run, before Guardado came on. “To come into that situation and not let a run score is just a tremendous job.”

He started it by facing Jason Varitek, the Red Sox hitter he’s faced most during his career. He quickly fell behind in the count 2-and-0, but kept throwing nothing by 87-88 mph fastballs to work things back to full. And then, after Varitek fouled off a couple of more fastballs, Guardado threw a split-finger fastball down and away and watched Varitek swing over it for a huge strikeout.

On the way back to the dugout, TV cameras caught the Red Sox captain mouthing the word: “Wow.

Said Guardado: “It was probably one of the better ones I’ve thrown all year.”

He got Jacoby Ellsbury to fly out to shallow left and pinch hitter Rocco Baldelli to bounce into an inning-ending fielders’ choice.

It ended the inning and left as much breathing room as possible for the limited bullpen, which was going to have to finish out the game without Francisco, who complained of a slightly sore shoulder before the game. O’Day came on in the ninth, walked the first two hitters, then got smart Kevin Youkilis to chase a slider for a strikeout, Jason Bay to fly to right and Mike Lowell to fly to center. End of ball game. End of losing streak.

And still Guardado’s work wasn’t done.

After a quick trip through the post-game spread – hey, priorities – he found Francisco, to whom he’s acted as a mentor since they met in spring training last year. He put both arms on the big relievers shoulders and embarked on another of the many talks they’ve had.

“It’s tough mentally when you go through that where you feel sore and you’ve had surgery before,” Guardado said. “He’s going to be OK. He just has to have that confidence to know he’s going to be OK. He’s doing everything the right way. He just needs confidence in it. That’s what the trainers are for and that’s what teammates are for. We’re in a good situation here and we just want to keep him as confident as possible.”

Francisco has listened to Guardado over and over on the way to becoming nearly unbeatable as a closer. Last year, after Francisco marveled at Guardado’s ability to get hitters out without overpowering stuff, the two embarked on a five-month journey of teacher and student. Guardado emphasized the need for routine, the importance of command and the absolute essentialness of a short memory.

On Friday, as the game got tight, Francisco had tried to talk his way into warming up. The Rangers would have none of it.

“I told them I would try to get loose,” said Francisco, who called the dugout before the ninth inning. “They said they needed to have me for September.”

The Rangers don’t believe the soreness is much more than stiffness related to a cool, damp night.

Guardado was hardly the only contributor to end a long, rough stretch in Boston. With two on and two out in the fifth, Andrus battled back from an 0-and-2 count to bounce a single through the left side of the infield on a full-count fastball. It drove home the first run. Ian Kinsler followed with a three-run homer. In the sixth, Davis’ third hit of the night was a two-out, run-scoring double.

But Guardado’s work wasn’t done even after the tough eighth inning and after the talk with Francisco. After he stepped out of the shower, he got involved in a little round of hijinks, bringing the entire clubhouse to belly laughs.

It was good. After the long losing streak had been vanquished they needed that.

And then before waddling off into the night, Guardado left with this:

“It was a good win and we needed it. But now we’ve got to come back tomorrow and get another. One game at a time. Can’t look too far ahead.”

Actually, in this case you can. On a night of many contributors, if there was one who had the most long-range impact, it was Guardado.