The Texas Rangers scored four runs in the fourth inning and got a five-out save from Jacob Latz to take down the Boston Red Sox 4-2.
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Regular season baseball doesn’t get much bigger than it is for the Texas Rangers on their final homestand of the season.
On Tuesday night, they got that homestand started on the right foot, taking down the Boston Red Sox 4-2 at Globe Life Field.
Texas scored all four of their runs in the second inning against Boston starter Patrick Sandoval, all of which came with two strikes and two outs.
After singles from Brandon Nimmo and Ezequiel Duran, it was Rangers designated hitter Elias Diaz who opened the scoring with a two-RBI double down the left-field line to give Texas a 2-0 lead.
Just two batters later, Corey Seager blooped a single just over the glove of Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story to plate two more runs and make it 4-0 Rangers.
“Diaz had a really good day, a huge two-out RBI double down the line, that really set the tone for us, and then Seager adding on with two more RBI was huge.” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said after the game.
“We feel really good about our lineup against left-handers. Sandoval is a good pitcher, and we had trouble early on with the changeup, but the second time around we got to him…”
Pitching on just four days of rest, Jacob deGrom got the start for Texas and turned in yet another solid outing.
deGrom went five innings, allowing just three hits and two runs with one walk while striking out eight and earning his first career win against Boston in seven starts.
The lone blemish of the night against deGrom came in the fourth when Red Sox nine-hole hitter Nick Sogard snuck a two-run home run down the right-field line.
In the fifth, deGrom would retire catcher Adley Rutschman with the bases loaded to end his outing.
“You gotta control what you can control, and that’s the game we’re about to play. Tonight it was trying to go one pitch at a time…,” deGrom said.
After deGrom exited the game, four Rangers relievers combined to throw four shutout innings, including Jacob Latz, who earned a five-out save for his 30th of the season.
“He [Latz] has been fantastic every time…,” Schumaker said. “He has so many different pitches and weapons to get guys out with, that’s why he does such a good job against right-handers and left-handers; that’s why I don’t really care who’s up. If we’re gonna go down, it’s gonna be with Latz, and he was just great again."
