ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Tuesday night. The win kept them one game behind the Houston Astros in the American League West with 11 games to play.
At 75-76, Texas trails Houston (76-75), which also won Tuesday and holds the tiebreaker. The Rangers moved ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays (75-77), who lost to Detroit. They are 1 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Guardians (77-75) for the third and final American League wild card.
Boston fell to 82-69 and is second in the wild-card race, 5 1/2 games ahead of Cleveland. Entering Tuesday, Baseball Reference gave Texas a 23.5% chance to reach the postseason. Before Sunday’s win in Arizona, that figure was 10.0%.
Over the weekend, Texas took two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field for its first road series win since July 1. Jacob Latz got the final 5 outs Tuesday for his 30th save. He said the Rangers have been talking for a while about what is in front of them.
“We’re at the right time here,” Latz said. “We know what’s in front of us. We’ve been saying that for a while, and it’s crunch time, and we’re up for the challenge.”
Texas Rangers Open Nine-Game Homestand
Tuesday opened a nine-game homestand. Texas is 41-32 at Globe Life Field and 34-44 on the road.
The Toronto Blue Jays visit from Sept. 18 to 20, and the New York Mets follow from Sept. 22 to 24. The regular season ends with three games at the Minnesota Twins from Sept. 25 to 27.
On Monday, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said the club still controls its own destiny. He spoke during his weekly segment on 105.3 The Fan’s G-Bag Nation, and he said the off day gave the Rangers a chance to look at the next 12 days.
“The day off’s nice. It’s nice to have a stress-free day and just think about the coming week and the next 12 days, really,” Young said.
Young also said Texas needed to get ahead of Boston early. The Rangers led 4-0 after two innings. Elias Díaz hit a two-run double and Corey Seager had a two-run single, both with two outs.
“It’s a team that can really pitch. Their bullpen is really good. Their starters are solid,” Young explained. “We’ve got to jump out and get an early lead.”
Injuries Around The Texas Rangers Rotation And Lineup
Jacob deGrom (11-9) struck out 8 over 5 innings in his first start since groin tightness in Seattle. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said deGrom did not feel 100%.
Joc Pederson has a small fracture in his left hand and was not in Tuesday’s lineup. Cal Quantrill is dealing with a back issue after starting Sunday in Arizona. Jack Leiter remains on the 60-day injured list with a right ankle issue.
Nathan Eovaldi came off the injured list Saturday and moved to the bullpen. On Sunday, Texas recalled Alejandro Osuna from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned Cam Cauley.
MacKenzie Gore (8-11, 4.62 ERA) starts Wednesday against Red Sox rookie left-hander Jake Bennett (9-7, 3.69 ERA). Texas has not named a starter for Thursday, when Boston has right-hander Sonny Gray (17-5, 2.76 ERA) scheduled. First pitch for both games is 7:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network.
