Rangers Upend Red Sox Late, Take Three of Four Games
ARLINGTON, Texas — There may not be high expectations for the Texas Rangers this year, but they might have just had a series that can turn their season around.
The Rangers defeated the Boston Red Sox on Sunday by a score of 5-3, taking three of four games to wrap up a seven-game homestand. Texas trailed for most of the game, and had to fight a number of obstacles throughout the game. From the sun blinding Nick Solak on a pop up to home plate umpire Brian O'Nora's inconsistent strike zone, the Rangers bore down to came away with one of the biggest wins of the year.
Everything came to a head in the sixth inning when O'Nora rung up Joey Gallo on a borderline breaking ball. Gallo protested the call and apparently said too much for O'Nora, who ejected Gallo after he turned to walk back to the dugout. Manager Chris Woodward came to Gallo's defense, and was also ejected.
"The only thing I stressed to him was our hitters take a lot of pride in not swinging at balls," Woodward explained. "I typically don't get too heated. ... But I think at that point, I felt like he tossed Joey a little quick there. I felt like Joey didn't say enough to warrant a quick ejection like that. I couldn't even get out there in time. That was frustrating, obviously."
Isiah Kiner-Falefa injected some life into the Texas lineup the very next inning, blasting a 422-foot home run to pull the Rangers within a run.
Trailing 3-2 heading into the eighth inning, the Rangers completed the comeback with a two out rally. With Nate Lowe on second base, David Dahl shot a single to the opposite field to drive in the tying run. Kiner-Falefa kept things going with a huge walk. Then former Boston Red Sox fan-favorite Brock Holt drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single of his own. An error by Kiké Hernández in center field gifted the Rangers a big insurance run.
For the second night in a row, closer Ian Kennedy slammed the door shut with a perfect inning, securing his seventh save of the season.
Starter Mike Foltynewicz was a bright spot for the Rangers as well, considering the starting rotation only produced one six-inning outing in the first six games of the homestand. Foltynewicz kept the hot-hitting Red Sox at bay, giving up only two runs on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts in six innings.
Foltynewicz also neutralized Boston's J.D. Martinez, the American League's RBI leader. Martinez was 0-for-3 on the day against Foltynewicz with a strikeout and two double play groundouts. Reliever Josh Sborz also added a punchout of Martinez in the eighth inning.
The Rangers (13-16) will now travel to north for a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins (10-16), which begins Monday. Rookie right-hander Dane Dunning (1-1, 3.97 ERA) will start for Texas, and go up against veteran righty Kenta Maeda (1-2, 6.56 ERA).
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