Texas Rangers

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Home on the 4th of July, the Boston Red Sox can stretch their winning streak to four games when they open a three-game series against the visiting Texas Rangers early this afternoon. Boston had lost five games in a row — and seven of eight — before it swept a three-game series at Toronto this past weekend.

(Highlights from July 4, 2022)

“The way we played this weekend was fun to watch,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said following his team’s 5-4 victory on Sunday. “Hopefully it’s a lesson to everybody here in this group that if we play that way against everybody, we’ve got a chance.”

The bottom four batters in Boston’s lineup (Triston Casas, Enrique Hernandez, David Hamilton and Connor Wong) were 0-for-17 in Sunday’s win, but Jarren Duran went 5-for-5 and matched a franchise record by hitting four doubles. It was the 50th time since 1901 that a major league player has had four doubles in one game.

While Boston had a day off Monday, the Rangers are coming off Monday afternoon’s wild 12-11 loss to Houston. Texas fought back from a 10-2 deficit to take an 11-10 lead in the eighth inning, but it surrendered two runs in the top of the ninth.

Travis Jankowski went 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs in the setback, capping an eight-game homestand during which the Rangers went 3-5. Jankowki’s hits included a three-run home run that sliced Houston’s lead to 10-5.

Texas arrived in Boston with a fortified bullpen. Not only did the Rangers acquire closer Aroldis Chapman in a trade with Kansas City on Friday, but they also activated right-handed pitcher Glenn Otto from the 60-day injured list on the same day.

Otto was used exclusively as a starting pitcher in his first two seasons with Texas, but he pitched a scoreless ninth inning in Friday’s 5-3 loss to Houston and allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings of relief on Monday. He missed the first half of the season rehabbing a right shoulder strain.

“I’m here to get outs,” Otto told the Dallas Morning News. “Whatever form or fashion that is, I’m here to get outs. I’m going to do the best job I can do to attack the hitters and get them out as fast as I can, go from there and let everything else fall where it may.”

Texas is expected to start right-hander Dane Dunning (7-1, 2.69 ERA) in the series opener on Tuesday. Dunning matched his career high by striking out 10 batters in 8 2/3 innings during his last start, a 10-2 victory over Detroit last Wednesday.

Dunning began the season as a reliever but joined the rotation to fill in for Jacob deGrom in May and has been used in that role since then. He is 0-3 with a 9.42 ERA in three career appearances (all starts) against Boston.

Boston has not officially announced its starting pitcher, but left-hander Chris Murphy (0-0, 1.80 ERA) is among those who could get the start. Murphy, who hasn’t pitched since last Wednesday, made his major league debut against Cleveland last month and has never pitched against Texas.

Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida was hit in the leg by a pitch during Boston’s 7-6 triumph over Toronto on Saturday and was held out of the lineup Sunday. Cora said he expects Yoshida to be available to play Tuesday.

–Field Level Media

ARLINGTON – Former Red Sox utility man Brock Holt had a key RBI single to help the Texas Rangers produce a three-run 8th inning to defeat the Boston Red Sox 5-3 on Sunday. The Rangers took 3-of-4 games against the Sox for their first winning series of the season.

Rangers SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa homered to help Texas win a series against Boston for the first time since 2016. Rangers reliever Josh Sborz (3-1) got three outs for the win, and Ian Kennedy worked the ninth for his seventh of seven save opportunities.

Boston’s star SS Xander Bogaerts cracked three hits for Sox, including his fifth homer, as the Red Sox built a 3-1 lead with runs in the second, fourth and seventh innings. The loss marked the AL East-leading Sox’ first lost a series since being swept by Baltimore at Fenway Park to open the season.

“Like I told you guys after we started 0-3, we thought we had a good team,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “And after we won all those games, we still have a good team. We reset tomorrow.”

Bogaerts scored the game’s first run after he reached on a towering popup that second baseman Nick Solak lost in the sun. He advanced to third on Marwin Gonzalez’s double and scampered home on Hunter Renfroe’s grounder to Solak.

Boston starter Garrett Richards struck out seven while pitching five innings of one-run ball. He allowed four hits and walked one.

The Red Sox have a day off for travel today and then ace SP Nick Pivetta (3-0, 2.81 ERA), who held the Mets to one hit through five scoreless innings in his previous start, will open a three-game home stand against Detroit at Fenway on Tuesday.

 

ARLINGTON – Texas catcher Jose Trevino hit a tiebreaking two-run home run to secure the Rangers 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox in a series opener Thursday night. Trevino’s first homer of the season came on the second pitch thrown by reliever Hirokazu Sawamura in the home half of the 6th inning.

The Red Sox had only three hits, their fourth game in a row with five or fewer hits, although the AL East division leaders had managed to win the previous three.

Sawamura took over with two outs in the bottom half of the inning for lefty Martín Pérez (0-2), with a runner on base after shortstop Xander Bogaerts had a fielding error. Trevino drove an 88 mph slider 411 feet over the wall into the Red Sox bullpen in left-center for a 3-1 lead.

Texas shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa homered to straightaway center off Sawamura in the 7th inning for an insurance run.

Texas pitcher Kyle Gibson struck out four and walked three while giving up one run in his six innings. He has allowed three earned runs over 33 innings (0.82 ERA) over his last five starts since retiring only one batter in his first-ever opening day start.

ARLINGTON – Boston Red Sox emerging ace Nathan Eovaldi and Texas Rangers newcomer and former Japanese baseball star Kohei Arihara are hoping for bounce-back performances when the Red Sox play the Rangers for the second of their four-game weekend series tonight.

Boston right-hander Eovaldi (3-2, 3.77 ERA) allowed only four runs over his first three starts of the season, but has given up at least four in back-to-back starts while allowing seven or more hits in each outing. Eovaldi chalked up his struggles in last Saturday’s 8-2 loss to Seattle, in which he allowed a season-high five runs (four earned) on seven hits over five innings, to his inability to locate his pitches.

Only 64 percent of Eovaldi’s 87 pitches landed in the strike zone.

“I just felt like I had a hard time finishing my pitches,” Eovaldi said. “If I’m not finishing my pitches, they tend to stay middle and they’re not as sharp as they usually are. I think that’s what got me in trouble.”

Eovaldi is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two prior starts against the Rangers. He pitched a gem in his lone career start in Texas, allowing just two hits and striking out six over seven scoreless innings on April 25, 2016, as a member of the New York Yanks.

Texas right-hander Arihara (2-2, 4.03) lasted only two innings in the Rangers’ 8-4 loss at the Chicago White Sox
last Sunday. After allowing zero runs in 11 1/3 innings over his prior two starts, Arihara posted season highs of five runs allowed and four walks.

Arihara said he may have been tipping his pitches after placing a season-low 57 percent of his 70 pitches in the strike zone.

“I do feel like they may have been expecting it,” Arihara said through an interpreter via The Dallas Morning News. “But I’m not aware of anything. I think the biggest thing was that my fastball wasn’t riding (Sunday). I just wasn’t able to pitch as effectively as I’d like to do it.”

The 28-year-old rookie will be making his second start at Globe Life Field and his sixth overall. Arihara gave up three runs — two earned — on five hits while walking one and striking out one in four innings in a 3-0 home loss against San Diego on April 9.

Texas handed Boston just its second road loss of the season in the series opener Thursday, winning 4-1. Although the Rangers remain four games under .500 for the season, they improved to 7-4 against AL East opponents in 2021.

The status of Boston designated hitter J.D. Martinez for Friday’s game is up in the air after he was pulled for a pinch hitter in the eighth inning on Thursday due to migraine symptoms. Martinez went 0 for 1 with two walks in the opener.

– Staff and Wire Service Report