ARLINGTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Texas Rangers will have plenty to play for when they wrap up a three-game series against the visiting Boston Red Sox on Thursday night in Texas.

A victory would give the Rangers (76-76) a three-game sweep and keep them in at least a tie for first place in the American League West. Their 7-3 victory over Boston on Wednesday, plus Kansas City’s 5-2 win against Houston, left the Rangers and Astros tied at the top of the division standings. Houston will face Kansas City again Thursday.

The Astros own the tiebreaker.

Nathan Eovaldi held Boston scoreless for the final four innings Wednesday to earn the win. The victory stretched Texas’ winning streak to four games.

“We just have to keep playing baseball,” Eovaldi said. “Keep doing the things we’ve been doing. We’ve been playing well lately and I think it’s a combination of everybody stepping up and doing their part.

“Obviously guys are grinding right now, but for us to be able to come out and play well in these first two games against the Red Sox — we have to make sure we’re able to bounce back tomorrow — but I think it just shows the grit that we have in the clubhouse in all the guys.”

Eovaldi surrendered one hit and threw 46 pitches in relief.

“Once it got tied up, just felt like he (Eovaldi) was the guy to take us to the end,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “We didn’t have (Jacob) Latz available. We didn’t have (Robert) Garcia available today. … What he provided was enormous because we were a little bit limited in the back end.”

The game was tied, 3-3, until Texas scored three runs against reliever Erik Miller in the seventh, an inning that featured a walk, a hit batter and two hits.

“They put some good swings on him,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “I don’t know what else to say other than that. He hit the leadoff guy so you put traffic out there, and they got some pitches up in the zone and they hit him hard. He’ll be fine. He’s really good, but they were able to get some good swings on him today.”

Boston (82-70) received a two-run home run from Willson Contreras but was held to three hits. In their 4-2 loss on Thursday, the Red Sox had six hits but struck out 15 times.

“We’re going through it a little bit,” Tracy said. “We didn’t create a ton of opportunities. Obviously Willson with a big swing to give us the lead and only a couple other chances, one of which was a ball that was stung by Izzy (Isiah Kiner-Falefa) on a contact play for a double play. And then we gave ourselves one other chance. … Just not creating a ton of opportunities for ourselves.

“We got some guys going through it. You could see one or two big swings and it could turn completely in the other direction. We just gotta keep plugging away at it.”

The Red Sox have a hold on the second AL wild card, up five games over the third spot.

Boston will send right-hander Sonny Gray (17-5, 2.76 ERA) to the mound Thursday as they attempt to avoid the three-game sweep. Gray is 12-5 with a 2.81 ERA in 20 career appearances (19 starts) against Texas.

Tyler Alexander (5-2, 3.38) is expected to be the opener for the Rangers before giving way to fellow left-hander Cody Bradford (0-5, 4.72) as the bulk reliever. He has a 7.36 ERA in one career start against Boston, that coming in a 7-4 win on Aug. 3, when he gave up three runs on four hits — including two home runs — in 3 2/3 innings. He did not figure into the decision.

Alexander has seven career appearances (one start) against the Red Sox and is 1-0 with a 5.63 ERA. He pitched one scoreless innings of relief in the win on Tuesday.

–Field Level Media

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ARLINGTON – (Wire Service Report) – Jacob deGrom struck out eight in five innings, and the Texas Rangers scored four runs in the second inning to defeat the visiting Boston Red Sox 4-2 Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series in Texas.

DeGrom (11-9), who dealt with groin tightness in his start against Seattle on Thursday, held Boston to two runs on three hits and walked one.

Boston (82-69) had the tying run at the plate after Roman Anthony singled with two outs in the ninth, but Jacob Latz struck out pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones for the game’s final out. Latz pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn his 30th save. He allowed one hit, walked one and struck out three.

Boston starter Patrick Sandoval (1-6) was pulled with two outs in the third. He allowed four runs on four hits and walked two.

Ezequiel Duran and Corey Seager each collected two hits for the Rangers, who have won three in a row. Despite the win, Texas (75-76) remained a game behind division-leading Houston in the American League West standings.

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ARLINGTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Texas Rangers are far from healthy but find themselves one game out of first place in the American League West as they kick off a nine-game homestand with a matchup against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

Texas (74-76) had lost its last eight road series until it beat Arizona 7-6 on Sunday to take two of three games against the Diamondbacks. Sunday’s win moved the Rangers a game behind Houston in the division, although the Astros own the tiebreaker.

It was a big road series,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “After a tough final game in Seattle, to come here and win two out of three against a really good team (is great). Hopefully we can build that momentum going into a good homestand against some more tough teams. But that was a big win, and a much-needed win.

“We need this off day (Monday), 1,000%, but I’m proud to be part of this team. They are showing fight and resiliency. They are doing whatever they can to get on the field. I’m positive that some of them probably shouldn’t be playing, and they are. And, so, that’s why I think we’re in a really good spot mentally because the guys are playing for each other.”

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Wyatt Langford and Kyle Higashioka homered in back-to-back innings to start the game, and the visiting Texas Rangers avoided a three-game series sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox with a 6-4 win on Sunday night.

The Rangers tagged Boston starter Connelly Early (5-5) for six runs and 11 hits through the first 4 2/3 innings and totaled 13 knocks in the game.

Beyond the long balls, Brandon Nimmo (2-for-5) hit a clutch two-RBI double in the fourth inning, while Justin Foscue went 3-for-3 with a run scored. Higashioka and Cody Freeman also had multiple hits.

The early offense stood tall as Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi (6-7) pitched seven innings, striking out six while working around three runs and six hits.

Willson Contreras homered twice on his 3-for-4 night and Masataka Yoshida went 2-for-4 with a double and run scored to lead the Red Sox, who have lost five of their last seven games.

With the Tartan Army filling the Fenway Park stands after Scotland’s World Cup win in Foxborough, Mass., on Saturday, Early was tagged for a first-pitch leadoff home run for a second consecutive start. Langford crushed a solo shot completely over the Green Monster and out of the ballpark to lift Texas to an immediate 1-0 lead in the first inning.

The Rangers busted open the score with three straight hits to start the second. After Foscue and Cody Freeman stung back-to-back singles to center, Higashioka drove them both home with a three-run shot that just cleared the left-field wall.

After Eovaldi set down his former team 1-2-3 to start the game, Contreras went deep to left to get Boston on the scoreboard at 4-1. The inning continued with Caleb Durbin drawing a one-out walk and Isiah Kiner-Falefa knocking an infield single over second base. After a wild pitch moved both into scoring position, Marcelo Mayer’s RBI grounder made it a two-run game.

Early escaped a two-on jam without any damage in the third, but Texas extended its lead in the following frame. Alejandro Osuna started the rally with a one-out single, then back-to-back walks preceded Nimmo’s key double high off the Monster.

While Greg Weissert (1 1/3 innings), Ryan Watson (two innings) and Tommy Kahnle (one inning) teamed up for scoreless relief, Boston inched closer when Contreras knocked another solo shot out to deep left with two outs in the sixth, making it a 6-3 game.

In the eighth, Yoshida’s one-out knock got the Sox started, and he scored on Abreu’s liner to right two batters later.

Contreras followed with his third hit, but Jacob Latz entered to induce an inning-ending grounder from Jarren Duran before dealing a scoreless ninth to finalize his 11th save.

–Field Level Media

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – After their first home series win since April, the Boston Red Sox go for a series sweep against the visiting Texas Rangers on Sunday evening.

The Red Sox are now 2-8-1 this season in home series and interim manager Chad Tracy knows if Boston is going to climb out of the American League East cellar, it will have to improve its performance at home.

“It’s been a minute (since a home series win) and it feels good,” Tracy said. “It’s no secret. We all know we have to play better at home. We played two really good ball games and now have a chance to go sweep a series. It feels good for the guys for sure.”

While Red Sox fans haven’t had a lot to cheer about at home, Ceddanne Rafaela changed that – for an afternoon anyway – with a clutch, two-run go-ahead single that came with two outs in the seventh to give Boston a 4-2 lead.

The 25-year-old center fielder ranks second on Boston in batting average (.291), doubles (14) and stolen bases (seven).

“Every win matters,” Rafaela said. “Especially at home. I want the fans to be happy, that’s what we are showing up for to try and accomplish.”

With two straight wins, Jarren Duran said Boston has to stay focused as it has the chance to get on a roll. Duran launched a two-run homer in the eighth to provide the Red Sox bullpen with breathing room.

“We are picking it up, which is good,” Duran said. “We just need to put our heads down and keep going.”

Boston starter Connelly Early (5-4, 3.30 ERA) is scheduled to make his first career appearance against the Rangers. The left-hander allowed two runs on five hits with four walks and six strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings in a 3-1 loss in his last start at the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.

The Rangers will counter with Nathan Eovaldi (5-7, 4.26 ERA), who took the loss in a 5-3 setback at the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. The veteran right-hander surrendered four runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

In 12 appearances, including 11 starts, against one of his former teams, Eovaldi is 4-1 with a 4.68 ERA. He’s racked up 46 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings pitched.

After scoring just four runs in the first two games of the series – a 10-1 loss on Friday and a 6-3 setback on Saturday – Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said his club’s offense has to provide more support for its pitching staff.

“The challenge for us is providing more cushion on the offensive side for our starting pitchers,” Schumaker said.

Jake Burger provided some offense with a solo shot in the eighth, his 100th career home run. Burger leads the Rangers in homers (12) and RBIs (42).

Michael Helman also contributed to the Rangers’ offensive output with an RBI sacrifice fly that tied the game 2-2 in the fourth. But the center fielder, who has 30 at-bats in 15 games, was hit by a pitch on his right hand in the eighth, and after being checked out by the Rangers’ training staff at first base, he exited the game.

“Michael has multiple fractures in at least one finger, if not two,” Schumaker said. “He will be out for a bit, (the pitch) got him pretty good.”
-Field Level Media

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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