By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – When Boston left fielder Jarren Duran came to the plate to face Texas Rangers’ reliever David Robertson in the bottom of the 8th inning with the score tied 4-4, he had struck out twice and popped up to third base.

Earlier this week, Duran served a two-game suspension after using a homophobic slur towards a fan and the young outfielder was firmly reprimanded by the Red Sox organization before the issue rose to the attention of Major League Baseball. Upon his introduction for his lead-off at bat in the Red Sox half of the first, Duran received a warm hand from the Fenway crowd which displayed a willingness to provide penance but not total forgiveness.

In Boston, forgiveness is in the eyes of a performer. Duran would have his chance.

He delivered a lead-off hit but fell victim soon after to a double play when Wilyer Abreu struck-out but Duran saw the ball slip away for a split second and thought he’d grab a free ride to second base. Texas catcher Jonah Heim would have no part of the forgiveness-fest and promptly tossed Duran out at second base.

It was the second worst base-running blunder of the night, following a 6th inning Rafael Devers brain-fog waltz from first to third base when reserve Romy Gonzalez flew the ball to center field with only one out in the books. Devers was doubled-up immediately.

Fool me once, or fools twice?

The Red Sox manufactured a two-out rally despite the poor base running and scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th to take what seemed to be a convincing 7-4 lead, benefitting from a double by DH Masataka Yoshida, an intentional walk to Devers and an RBI base hit by newly acquired catcher Danny Jansen. That sequence set the table for a hard hit double by Gonzalez, scoring Devers and Jensen.

Instant Karma’s always gonna get you, though, especially after poor base running and idiotic slurring of the paying customer.

Along came the Texas 9th inning and Rangers’ left fielder Wyatt Langford homered with two men on to tie the score at 7-all.

After a scoreless home ninth, the ghosts of MLB placed a runner (Ezequiel Duran) on second base and Heim blasted a leadoff home run over the famed Green Monster of Fenway to spot Texas a 9-7 lead in the first (and only) extra inning.

Rangers’ closer Kirby Yates dispatched the Sox in the bottom of the 10th to secure the 9-7 win, as Boston dropped to (63-56) on the season while Texas climbed to (56-65). Boston squandered yet another game because of mental errors, notably poor base-running, a fielding and a throwing error.

The Fenway faithful might not be as forgiving when their club returns on August 23 to face the defending American League champion Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Red Sox immediate matter at hand will be their seven-game road trip, with four games at Camden Yards against the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles and three at Houston where the AL West-leading Astros play the best there is at Minute Maid Park.

The post Red Sox Run Amok, Lose to Texas 9-7 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox will attempt to complete their first sweep in more than a month when they conclude a three-game series against the visiting Texas Rangers on Wednesday.

A 9-4 win against Texas on Tuesday put Boston on the verge of sweeping a series for the first time since July 2-4 at Miami. The back-to-back victories to begin the current series followed four straight losses, including a three-game sweep by the Houston Astros last weekend.

Kutter Crawford’s starting pitching effort was crucial to Boston’s win Tuesday, as the right-hander opened with 5 1/3 perfect innings. However, Red Sox manager Alex Cora aggressively dipped into his bullpen to attempt to get out of the Rangers’ four-run sixth inning.

“We’re going to use everybody and we’re going to try to get 27 outs however we can to win games,” Cora said. “We’re in the middle of a playoff chase, or whatever you want to call it. If I feel like that’s the moment of the game, that’s the moment of the game.”

The Red Sox got another key moment from Rob Refsnyder on Tuesday. The outfielder has been a key contributor with three hits in the series, driving in two runs on Tuesday after hitting a walk-off single in the 10th inning of the series opener on Monday.

Refsnyder, who has reached base in 43 of his 49 starts this season, also serves as a key leader for a young offense that includes Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran.

“We’ve been playing our best baseball when our young guys have been pretty electric on the basepaths, playing uber-aggressive,” Refsnyder said this week. “I think that’s our identity this year.”

The past two nights, Duran served a team-issued, two-game suspension for uttering a homophobic slur at a fan on Sunday. He is eligible to return on Wednesday.

The Red Sox will look to keep rolling in the series finale behind Tanner Houck (8-8, 3.02 ERA), who is winless in his past four starts.

The right-hander pitched six innings on Friday against Houston, allowing just one run on four hits before Boston’s bullpen faltered in an 8-4 loss.

“It was a great game to look back and learn from, and continue to grow,” Houck said.

The quality start followed his lone outing against Texas this year, when he permitted eight hits and six runs while striking out seven in five-plus innings during a 7-4 road loss on Aug. 3.

In three career matchups against the Rangers (two starts), Houck is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

A year after winning the World Series, Texas is 10 games below .500 for the first time since the end of the 2022 season.

It was a difficult Tuesday for the Rangers, who were no-hit for five innings by Crawford and scored all four runs in one inning. Leody Taveras went 2-for-4 with a double and a run.

“Yeah, I mean, I guess you could call it pressing,” Texas rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford said. “It’s just tough. We can’t seem to get it figured out on the offensive side.”

The Rangers’ lineup featured Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Josh Smith and Adolis Garcia at the top for the second straight game. Previously, Smith had led off and Semien hit third of late.

“It brought back good memories, seeing those guys in their normal place in the batting order,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said before the Tuesday game. “The hope is they see that, and it does the same for them.”

The plan was largely unsuccessful, as the top four in the order went a combined 2-for-14, though the two hits each drove in a run.

The Rangers had not announced a starting pitcher for Wednesday as of late Tuesday night.

–Field Level Media

The post Red Sox Shoot for Rare Sweep appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) -After ending a busy day of roster transactions with a series-opening victory, the Boston Red Sox will look to continue their winning ways against the visiting Texas Rangers on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder hit a walk-off single to lift the Red Sox to a 5-4, 10-inning win over Texas on Monday. A pinch-hit walk by Mickey Gasper in his major league debut set up the opportunity for the deciding RBI.

Gasper, a 28-year-old New Hampshire native, was promoted from Triple-A Worcester alongside pitchers Bailey Horn and Chase Shugart earlier in the day.

“Hats off to the team giving me that opportunity … to be a part of (a win). I’m speechless,” the catcher/infielder said. “A lot of hard work and a lot of belief (got me here).”

A roster spot opened for Gasper when outfielder Jarren Duran was issued an unpaid, two-game suspension by the club and Major League Baseball after the All-Star directed a homophobic slur toward a fan on Sunday.

However, Gasper earned his promotion. And his contribution was key to Boston curbing a four-game losing streak.

He was hitting a whopping .401 with a 1.017 OPS in 40 games since being promoted from Double-A Portland to Worcester on June 4.

“It gets to a point that he keeps doing this thing over and over and over again” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “A month, a month and a half, two months. And you’re like, ‘The at-bats are good.’ So we got to this point obviously and we felt like he made sense for the roster.”

Boston will hope the momentum continues on Tuesday behind Kutter Crawford (7-9, 4.11 ERA). The right-hander has allowed at least five runs in four consecutive starts, but his lone win during that span came against the Rangers on Aug. 2 in Arlington, Texas. Four of the six hits he allowed in a 5 1/3-inning, five-run start were home runs, though the Red Sox went on to post an 11-6 victory.

Crawford was then charged with six runs in 3 2/3 innings in his most recent start, on Wednesday at Kansas City.

In four career games (three starts) vs. the Rangers, Crawford is 1-0 with a 5.19 ERA.

Texas will counter with right-hander Jose Urena (3-7, 3.74), whom Crawford got the better of in the teams’ series opener earlier this month. The Red Sox tagged Urena for seven runs on eight hits in four-plus innings during that outing, giving him an 0-2 record and a 5.56 ERA in four career starts vs. Boston.

Urena also took the loss in his latest start, when he worked four innings of two-run ball against the Houston Astros on Wednesday.

The Rangers likely will need a big start from Urena after the late innings on Monday went to rookies Gerson Garabito and Walter Pennington, the last two of seven Texas pitchers to take the mound.

“Well, we had arms out there,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said.

Following the loss, the Rangers are a season-worst nine games below .500, and they are 1-5 in their past six contests.

Even Corey Seager’s sixth home run in a 10-game span — tying the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning — was not enough. The team’s lineup was also adjusted, with Marcus Semien leading off and Adolis Garcia hitting cleanup.

“(We’re) just kind of getting the old band back together, to their roles where they normally are,” Bochy said before the series began. “See if we can get things going there.”

Semien went 1-for-5 with an RBI on Monday, and Garcia also finished 1-for-5.

Field Level Media

The post Red Sox Re-shuffle for Refsnyder appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

ARLINGTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Texas’ sluggers Jonah Heim and Leody Taveras hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning to help the Rangers end a three-game losing streak by beating the Boston Red Sox 7-4 on Saturday in Texas.

Heim hit a three-run homer against Boston starter Tanner Houck that tied the game at 3. Taveras followed with a solo home run against Houck to put Texas in front, 4-3.

Josh Smith had three hits for Texas, which had 13 hits in the game.

Boston’s Rob Refsnyder had two solo home runs, an RBI double and a single during a four-hit game. Refsnyder hit his sixth home run of the season in the first inning, and then collected home run No. 7 in the fourth. It was the first multi-homer game of his career.

Jose Leclerc (5-4) earned the win for tossing two-third of an inning of scoreless relief. Leclerc struck out Ceddanne Rafaela with the bases loaded to end the fourth.

Texas closer Kirby Yates recorded four outs to earn his 20th save. Yates entered the game with runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth. He struck out Jarren Duran with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Houck (8-8) allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

Boston’s Rafael Devers extended his hitting streak to 10 games when he doubled in the fourth. Connor Wong followed with an RBI single that extended Boston’s lead to 3-0.

After scoring four runs in their half of the fourth on the home runs by Heim (No. 10) and Taveras (No. 9), the Rangers took a 7-3 lead by adding three runs in the sixth. Ezequiel Duran, Taveras and Smith each had an RBI single in the inning.

The Red Sox sliced their deficit to 7-4 when Refsnyder’s double in the seventh drove in Rafaela, who opened the inning with a single.

Boston outfielder Tyler O’Neill did not play Saturday. Boston manager Alex Cora said O’Neill is dealing with an illness and may not be available Sunday either.

–Field Level Media

The post Texas Ends Losing Streak vs Red Sox appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

ARLINGTON –  (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Texas Rangers, riding a three-game losing streak, will hope to slow the Boston Red Sox’s offense on Saturday night in Texas. Boston opened the three-game series with an 11-6 victory on Friday. Texas has been outscored 29-8 during its skid.

The post Sox Can Hit Struggling Texas Relievers appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

ARLINGTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela each hit a two-run home run to lead the Boston Red Sox to an 11-6 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday in Texas.

Red Sox veteran 3B Rafael Devers added a solo home run and catcher Connor Wong collected four singles for the Red Sox. Boston second baseman Nick Sogard added a two-run single in his major league debut.

Corey Seager of Texas hit two solo home runs among his three hits and had three RBIs and three runs for the Rangers. Marcus Semien added a two-run blast and Leody Taveras a solo shot. All four homers came against Boston starter Kutter Crawford, who has allowed 12 in his last three starts.

Crawford (7-8) earned the win despite giving up five runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Texas has lost six of its last seven games and also saw its five-game home winning streak come to an end.

Texas starter Jose Urena (3-6) surrendered seven runs on eight hits in four innings. Urena made his first start since June 5, when he held Detroit to one run in 6 2/3 innings.

After Seager’s first home run gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the first, Abreu’s two-run homer in the second put Boston in front 2-1. Taveras and Seager went deep in the third inning for a 3-2 lead.

Boston scored four runs in the fourth to go ahead 6-3. Wong and Abreu hit RBI singles for the first two runs, and Sogard added a two-run single.

The Red Sox added a run in the fifth. Duran led off with a triple and scored on Masataka Yoshida’s sacrifice fly.

Rafaela’s home run pushed the lead to 9-3 in the top of the sixth, but Semien answered with his two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning.

Seager drove in Carson Kelly with a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 9-6. Boston padded the lead when Devers homered and Dominic Smith doubled home Wong in the ninth inning.

–Field Level Media

The post Red Sox Score Early, Add to Lead in Rout of Texas Rangers appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

PHOENIX — The Texas Rangers, after 62 years as a Major League Baseball franchise and 51 in the State of Texas, can finally call themselves World Series champions.

A 5-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 on Wednesday clinched the Rangers’ first title in three trips to the Fall Classic. Texas took all three games at Chase Field to end the postseason with an all-time-record 11-0 road mark.

Mitch Garver snapped a scoreless tie with a run-scoring single in the seventh inning, Nathan Eovaldi pitched six scoreless innings and the Rangers’ offense broke open a close game with four runs in the ninth inning off Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald.

Game 5 was a case of wasted chance after chance for the Diamondbacks, who hoped to send the series back to Texas for at least Game 6. Starter Zac Gallen no-hit the Rangers through six innings, allowing only one baserunner over that span.

The post Texas Rangers Take Series appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

1. PHOENIX — The Texas Rangers are one win away from their first World Series title, and they will ask Nathan Eovaldi to finish off the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 on Wednesday. Texas grabbed a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with an 11-7 win in Game 4 on Tuesday, as leadoff hitter Marcus Semien contributed a three-run homer and a two-run triple.

The Rangers took the 48,388 fans out of the game early with five-run innings in the second and third. The Diamondbacks scored six runs in the last two innings but still fell far short.

Texas, which is a record 10-0 on the road in the postseason, will look to complete a perfect away run behind Eovaldi. The veteran right-hander is 4-0 with a 3.52 ERA over five postseason starts, with 36 strikeouts and five walks in 30 2/3 innings.

Eovaldi allowed five runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings in Game 1, which Texas won 6-5 in 11 innings. He fanned eight and walked one.

“I try to play to my strengths. At the same time, I try to learn from my mistakes I had,” Eovaldi said. “So coming in this next start against these guys, I’ll be pitching a little differently. But at the same time, just continue to use my strengths and attack their weaknesses.”

In eight career regular-season appearances (five starts) against the Diamondbacks, Eovaldi is 3-0 with a 2.78 ERA.

To fight off elimination and try to send the series back to Texas for at least a Game 6, the Diamondbacks will turn to their ace, Zac Gallen. The right-hander has not been as sharp in the postseason as he was in the regular season, going 2-2 with a 5.27 ERA in five October starts. He has given up six home runs and walked 13 batters while striking out 18 in 27 1/3 innings.

Gallen was in line for a Game 1 win after throwing five innings of three-run ball, but the Arizona bullpen couldn’t finish off the Rangers.

“For me, I’m treating it just like it’s May, honestly,” Gallen said of the Game 5 assignment. “And I don’t know … hopefully this isn’t the last time I’m experiencing this and this heavy of a workload, this late of a workload.

“I’m still trying to get better each day, really. I just threw like a 35-pitch bullpen (session) Monday, where I think some people might try and taper it off, keep that in the 20s or whatever it is. But I’m still trying to work on things, still trying to get better.

“Until the final bell rings, I’m going to keep plugging away and keep seeing what the deal is with my delivery and all types of different things, feels and whatnot. I mean, it’s maybe not the greatest thing to be throwing as much as I am, but it’s what makes me feel prepared and what eases me mentally.”

The Rangers will have to go the rest of the World Series without injured slugger Adolis Garcia, who racked up eight home runs and 22 RBIs in the postseason. Travis Jankowski took Garcia’s place in right field on Tuesday and delivered a two-run double and a single. Ezequiel Duran replaced Garcia on the World Series roster.

Garcia is sidelined due to an oblique strain he sustained in Game 3.

Texas right-hander Max Scherzer also won’t be available. His back spasms in Game 3 forced his removal from the roster, with left-handed reliever Brock Burke taking his place.

Burke yielded three runs and got just one out in Game 4, his first appearance since he gave up two runs in one-third of an inning in Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Injuries aside, the Rangers are in a good place entering Game 5.

“Going out there and doing all you can to win a ballgame, and that’s where we have to be thinking,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “That’s where our minds have to be.”

–Jose M. Romero, Field Level Media

The post Can Eovaldi Bring It Home? appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

PHOENIX — Texas SP Andrew Heaney, on his fourth team in three seasons, helped his latest club move to the brink of a World Series championship. The left-hander gave the Rangers a solid start in Game 4 on Tuesday, and Texas rolled to an 11-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Rangers dominated, even though they let the Diamondbacks make it interesting in the late innings, to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Texas is one victory away from its first World Series crown.

“It’s awesome,” Heaney said after earning a win with five innings of one-run ball. “You know, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career, been on a bunch of different teams and never had this opportunity, obviously. I just want to win the game. I want us to win, and we did that, and we’re in obviously a great position and need to finish it off.”

The Rangers supported Heaney (1-0) by exploding for consecutive five-run innings in the second and third, turning the Halloween contest into a nightmare for the Diamondbacks and their fans.

Marcus Semien, who entered the game batting .197 in the postseason, hit a two-run triple in the second inning and a three-run homer in the third. Corey Seager struck again with his third two-run homer of the World Series, his sixth postseason long ball.

Jonah Heim added a solo home run in the eighth, his third blast of the postseason.

Texas won its 10th consecutive postseason road game, the longest winning streak of its kind in major league playoff history. Another road win in Game 5 on Wednesday would seal the title.

In a bullpen game for Arizona, the Rangers knocked around relievers Miguel Castro, Kyle Nelson and Luis Frias, all of whom allowed three runs without lasting one full inning. Castro yielded Semien’s triple in the second, Nelson served up Seager’s homer in the second and Frias gave up Travis Jankowski’s two-run double and Semien’s home run in the third.

Heaney yielded four hits, walked two and struck out three, leaving with a 10-1 lead. His effort helped the Texas bullpen get extra rest.

The Rangers lost two key players to injuries sustained in Game 3, as right fielder Adolis Garcia (strained oblique muscle) and Game 3 starting pitcher Max Scherzer (back spasms) were removed from the World Series roster. However, Texas didn’t miss the power-hitting Garcia, who had 20 hits, eight home runs and 22 RBIs in the postseason.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys, how they bounce back, how resilient they are, how they dealt with things, whether it’s losing streaks, whether it’s injuries,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “You can’t do anything about it. They’re gonna happen occasionally.”

The Diamondbacks scored their first run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. They added four runs in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Tommy Pham and Gurriel’s three-run home run, and they didn’t go quietly in the ninth, when Gabriel Moreno hit a two-run single off Texas closer Jose Leclerc.

Ketel Marte, the Diamondbacks’ best hitter in the postseason, had two hits to increase his postseason hitting streak to 20 games, the longest such streak in major league history. But Arizona is on the brink of defeat.

“You commit to the plan and the process for 27 outs,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “And you close the game up to 11-7, got the fans engaged, got a ton of energy, you got their closer in the game.

“There’s a lot of positives to draw upon, and I will, but we gotta tighten up the things we know that went wrong. And we’ll do that. And then we’ll come out tomorrow and we gotta go 1-0 tomorrow. We gotta be ready to play our finest game tomorrow and not worry about anything else.”

Diamondbacks opener Joe Mantiply (2-1) took the loss after allowing one run in 1 1/3 innings.

–Jose M. Romero, Field Level Media

The post TEXAS COAST appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

PHOENIX – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Veteran right-hander Max Scherzer will take the ball for Game 3 of the World Series tonight when the Texas Rangers visit the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It will be the third start of the postseason for Scherzer, who missed five-plus weeks with a teres major muscle injury in his pitching shoulder before making two starts in the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros.

Scherzer (0-1, 9.45 ERA this postseason) pitched just 6 2/3 innings in the two starts, but Texas manager Bruce Bochy is confident the three-time Cy Young Award winner can pitch deeper into the game this time.

“I think so. He could give us length,” Bochy said of Scherzer on Saturday. “I’ve talked to him about this. He’s comfortable pretty much throwing like he normally does. Maybe not quite as long as he’s been over 100 pitches, whatever, but pretty close.”

Scherzer is 7-8 with a 3.86 ERA in 29 career postseason appearances (24 starts). He is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in three World Series starts. Scherzer, 39, initially was a first-round draft choice by the Diamondbacks in 2006 and pitched a year in the majors for Phoenix in 2008-09 before being traded to the Detroit Tigers.

At Chase Field, he is 11-8 with a 3.86 ERA 29 appearances (25 starts), with 175 strikeouts in 156 1/3 innings.

Arizona named rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 2.70) as its Game 3 starter. Arizona has won all four of Pfaadt’s starts this postseason.

–Field Level Media

The post 2023 World Series: Scherzer for Game 3 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.