ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers were eight outs away from completing a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox. Instead, a late Boston rally sent them home with a frustrating loss.
Trevor Story delivered the decisive blow Thursday night, launching a three-run homer in the eighth inning off Jacob Latz as the Red Sox rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Rangers 4-3 at Globe Life Field.
The loss dropped Texas to 76-77, one game behind the Houston Astros in the American League West after the Rangers had entered the night sharing the division lead. Texas also fell two games behind in the race for the final AL wild-card spot.
Texas built its lead quickly.
Josh Jung opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning, his 10th of the season. Danny Jansen followed with an RBI single in the second, and Evan Carter added a sacrifice bunt that brought home another run to give the Rangers a 3-0 advantage.
Cody Bradford kept Boston off the scoreboard after entering behind opener Tyler Alexander. Bradford worked 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits while striking out three. Sonny Gray settled in after the early damage and held Texas without another run over the remainder of his outing.
Boston finally broke through in the seventh when Roman Anthony’s grounder produced a run, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Then came Story.
With two runners aboard in the eighth, Story worked back into a favorable count against Latz before driving a low curveball over the left-field wall. The 394-foot shot gave Boston its first lead of the night and proved to be the game-winner.
The Rangers had one last opportunity in the ninth, but Garrett Whitlock ended the threat by getting Jake Burger to ground into a game-ending double play.
For Texas, the defeat ended a four-game winning streak and prevented the Rangers from completing their first sweep of Boston.
The Rangers now turn their attention to Toronto, which visits Globe Life Field for a three-game series beginning Friday. Kumar Rocker is scheduled to start the opener for Texas.
