Red Sox Stun Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas — The last at-bat win is starting to catch on with the Boston Red Sox.
For the second consecutive game, the Red Sox worked final at-bat magic, rallying for four runs with two outs in the ninth inning to stun the Texas Rangers 8-7.
The Red Sox trailed 6-0 after starter David Price struggled and were down 7-4 heading to the ninth.
But pinch-hitter Sandy Leon doubled with two outs to make it a one-run game. The Rangers brought in Matt Bush (2-1) to face Mookie Betts, and Betts hit a two-run homer to center to tie the score.
After Dustin Pedroia walked, Xander Bogaerts moved him to third with a single. Bush then uncorked a wild pitch to allow Pedroia to score the winning run.
It was the home run that kept the Red Sox afloat, as the Betts blast was the third two-run shot of the game for the Red Sox. Betts said he might have cried if his ball didn’t leave the park because he felt like he hit it good enough.
“That’s a huge win,” he said. “We’ve been struggling a little while, scoring some runs, and took some L’s. But having a win like that can give us a kick start to a nice little streak.”
Koji Uehara struck out the side for his second save and made a winner of Heath Hembree (4-0), the fourth of five Boston pitchers. Texas had 16 hits, but none after the fifth inning.
The Red Sox, who had four wins in their last 10 games, carried some
momentum over from an 8-7 extra-innings win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. It helped late Friday.
“What can you say? That was just an outstanding comeback win,” Boston manager John Farrell said. “This is just a huge boost when you consider the confidence you can generate and gain from a win like this. It was an excited clubhouse afterwards.”
Bush was trying for his first career save as Texas manager Jeff Banister stayed away from closer Sam Dyson. Left-hander Jake Diekman started the ninth with a walk and then gave up the Leon double before Bush came in.
“I started him (Betts) off with some sliders away, and the fastball out of my hand felt like I hit the outside corner,” Bush said. “Looking back on it, I didn’t. The ball got a little too much plate. He did a good job and put a good swing on it, and belted a home run right there.”
Despite the late loss, the Rangers weren’t pointing fingers at the bullpen.
“You have to understand we’re humans, especially with the bullpen,” said Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus, who matched his season high with three hits. “They’ve been so terrific the whole year. They’re the reason we’re here and we have the lead in first place.
“They (Red Sox) have good hitters, man. It’s nothing new. You can see the way they’ve been playing the whole year. It’s a tough one to swallow, but we trust in every guy we have in here.”
The Rangers battered Price, tagging him for six runs and 12 hits in 2 1/3 innings. It was the most hits he has allowed with Boston and his shortest outing.
Texas jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on a leadoff homer from Shin-Soo Choo and a two-run single from Andrus. The Rangers added a run in the second and two in the third in a two-run single from Bobby Wilson.
Boston got back into the game with the long ball, as Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run homer off Texas starter Nick Martinez in the fourth and Jackie Bradley hit a two-run shot in the sixth.
Andrus and Ian Desmond each had three hits for Texas. Betts went 2-for-5 for Boston, which had nine hits.
