The Texas Rangers opened up a six-game road trip leading to the All-Star break by beating the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Mitch Garver snapped a homerless streak and Dane Dunning kept right on chugging, as the Texas Rangers rebounded from a tough homestand by beating the Boston Red Sox 6-2 Tuesday afternoon in a steady rain at Fenway Park.
The Fourth of July start to the six-game road trip takes the Rangers to the All-Star break. The American League West leaders improved to 51-35 overall and 24-17 away from home.
Texas went 3-5 in Arlington over the last week-plus, which ended with two disappointing losses, including a ninth-inning gut-punch Monday, to the rival Houston Astros. The Rangers’ lead in the AL West coming into Tuesday was 3.0 games, the smallest in more than a month.
Dunning followed up his longest outing as a starter with another gem in the first meeting of the season with Boston. The right-hander improved to 8-1 after allowing a run on six hits over six innings. He struck out four.
Boston (43-43) went with a bullpen game. Brennan Bernardino lasted just five batters, giving way to fellow reliever Kaleb Ort after Nathaniel Lowe singled with one out in the second.
Ezequiel Duran greeted Ort with a single and Garver, getting a start at catcher, took the first pitch he saw 408 feet to straight-away center for a 3-1 lead. Garver’s fourth homer this season was also his first since June 3. He finished 2 for 2 with four RBI.
Robbie Grossman, getting a start in left field, racked up three hits and drove in Garver with a double in the fourth. Josh Jung had two hits and also drove in a run.
The game included a nearly two-hour weather delay in the eighth inning.
The Rangers made a couple of roster moves before the game, with starter Andrew Heaney going on paternity leave and reliever John King getting called up.
The three-game series continues Wednesday with Jon Gray (6-4, 3.21) going for Texas opposite Brayan Bello (5-5, 3.08). First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. CT.
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