(Reuters) - The Boston Red Sox showed little mercy to struggling pitcher Yu Darvish as they roughed up the Japanese rookie in a 9-2 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Monday.

After a sparkling start to his first campaign in the Majors, which included a spot on the American League All Star Team, Darvish (11-8) has fallen on hard times and is just 1-4 in his last six starts.

Boston strung together six runs and 11 hits against him on Monday as Darvish was lifted in the seventh inning where he trailed 6-1.

The Red Sox padded their lead in the eighth with three more runs behind Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford who finished with three RBIs each.

Despite the loss, Texas (63-45) stayed tied with the New York Yankees for the best record in the AL. Boston (55-55) is trying to climb their way back into contention in the AL East.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)