ARLINGTON, Texas — Elias Díaz and Corey Seager each drove in two runs with two outs in the second inning Tuesday night, and the Texas Rangers made that early lead stand up in a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field.
Jacob deGrom (11-9) struck out 8 over 5 innings in his first start since groin tightness ended his outing in Seattle five days earlier. Four relievers followed with 4 scoreless innings. All-Star closer Jacob Latz got the final 5 outs for his 30th save in 33 chances, and he struck out pinch-hitter Andruw Monasterio with the bases loaded to end the eighth.
deGrom threw 92 pitches. His last inning ended with him working out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, and then Rangers manager Skip Schumaker turned to the bullpen.
“He gave us everything he had,” Schumaker said. “He did not feel 100%. You could tell, well, I knew earlier that he wasn’t 100%, but the way he attacked them and went about it, he gave us everything he had, and that’s all we could ever ask for.”
“So he also got out of a big jam, bases-loaded jam to end the fifth, and hand it off,” Schumaker continued. “But yeah, our guys are fighting right now, and it’s fun to watch them give everything they got to each other.”
At 75-76, Texas stayed one game behind the Houston Astros (76-75) in the American League West after Houston also won Tuesday. The Astros hold the tiebreaker. The Rangers moved ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays (75-77), who lost to Detroit, and sit 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.
Red Sox left-hander Patrick Sandoval (1-6) struck out the first 4 Rangers he faced. With two outs in the second, Díaz sent a two-run double into the left-field corner that scored Brandon Nimmo and Ezequiel Durán. Sandoval walked Danny Jansen and Justin Foscue to load the bases. Seager followed with a high popup to shallow left that deflected off the outstretched glove of shortstop Trevor Story, and Díaz and Jansen scored to make it 4-0.
Sandoval lasted 2 2/3 innings and was charged with 4 runs on 4 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 5 on 68 pitches.
Three of Boston’s five pitchers Tuesday were left-handers. Schumaker said the Rangers had trouble with Sandoval’s changeup early before getting to him the second time through the order.
“They threw a lot of lefties tonight,” Schumaker explained. “We got after the starter but just couldn’t add on runs against a really good bullpen and kept it at two runs. But luckily, Díaz had a really good day. Two-out RBI, a huge double down the line. I mean, that really set the tone for us. And then Seager adding on with two more RBIs was huge.”
“But yeah, we feel really good about our lineup against left-handers,” Schumaker added. “Sandoval is a good pitcher, and we had trouble early on with the changeup, but ended up second time around getting to them. But their bullpen, they matched up, it feels like, every inning to try to stop us, and they did. They did a good job, but four was enough, and our bullpen was equally as good, which was great to see.”
Brayan Bello, Alec Gamboa, Wyatt Olds, and Jovani Morán held Texas scoreless over the final 5 1/3 innings on 3 hits. Bello struck out 2 in 1 2/3 hitless innings.
Seager went 2-for-4 and added a single in the fifth. It was his 12th multi-hit game in 27 games since Aug. 15, and he has 45 RBIs this season. Díaz went 1-for-2 before Alejandro Osuna pinch-hit for him in the sixth. The double was his 13th of the season. Durán went 2-for-3 with a run.
Jacob deGrom And The Texas Rangers Bullpen Strand 9 Boston Red Sox Runners
In the third, Boston No. 9 hitter Nick Sogard hit a two-run home run off deGrom, a 357-foot drive to right field. Caleb Durbin scored ahead of him. It was Sogard’s fifth homer of the season. The Red Sox went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left 9 on base.
Boston loaded the bases in the fifth without a hit. deGrom hit Jarren Duran with a pitch, another batter reached on catcher’s interference charged to Jansen, and the Red Sox drew a two-out walk. Adley Rutschman grounded out to end the inning.
deGrom allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk. He threw 53 of his 92 pitches for strikes. Through 29 starts, he has 194 strikeouts in 154 1/3 innings and a 3.79 ERA.
On Thursday at T-Mobile Park, deGrom retired the first 15 Seattle Mariners he faced and struck out 12 over 6 scoreless innings. His groin tightened when he covered first base in the fourth inning. He left after 92 pitches with a 3-0 lead, and Seattle won 4-3. Last season, deGrom went 12-8 with a 2.97 ERA and was voted American League Comeback Player of the Year.
Chase Silseth struck out 3 in a scoreless sixth. Tyler Alexander retired the side in order in the seventh.
Silseth’s inning started with the heart of Boston’s order and Willson Contreras leading off. Contreras, who leads the Red Sox with 26 home runs, came off the injured list Sunday and went 0-for-3 with a walk.
“They were really good,” Schumaker said. “I thought Silseth had a great outing, struck out a couple guys, heart of the order with Contreras leading off … Thought he did a fantastic job. Tyler Alexander, another really good outing.”
“Jacob Latz, I mean, just stopping the bleeding in the eighth inning and then getting a clean ninth or almost a clean ninth,” Schumaker noted. “… But Jacob Latz was enormous getting out of that bases-loaded threat. So, yeah, really good job by the entire bullpen.”
In the eighth, Robert Garcia got one out and allowed a pinch-hit single to Jahmai Jones and a walk. Latz came on and intentionally walked Story. Monasterio, batting for Duran, struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Jacob Latz Records 30th Save As Texas Rangers Stay One Game Behind Houston Astros
Latz stayed in for the ninth and finished the game. He pitched 1 2/3 innings and allowed 1 hit and no earned runs, with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. His ERA is 2.00.
Since Aug. 7, Latz is 9-for-9 in save chances. His 13 saves of 1 1/3 innings or more lead the majors, MLB.com reported. No Rangers reliever had recorded that many saves of four outs or more since Tom Henke in 1993.
Latz said he left one pitch to Monasterio down in the zone, where Monasterio does damage.
“We needed to trust the fastball,” Latz said. “And that one I had down in the zone where he does hit it. Almost [paid] for it. Luckily, he didn’t. We got out of some big jams tonight, all night. And just a great, great team win right there.”
Three outs or six, Latz goes out and gets whatever he is asked for.
“Just riding the wave and going out there trying to get three, six outs, whatever is being asked, and then thinking about that stuff after the fact,” Latz explained. “So, yeah, just really not thinking about numbers and just trying to get outs.”
Texas has 11 games left. Over the weekend, the Rangers took two of three at Chase Field from the Arizona Diamondbacks, their first road series win since July 1. Tuesday opened a nine-game homestand, and Texas is 41-32 at Globe Life Field this season. Latz 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.”
After Boston, Texas hosts Toronto from Sept. 18 to 20 and the New York Mets from Sept. 22 to 24. The regular season ends with three games at the Minnesota Twins from Sept. 25 to 27.
MacKenzie Gore (8-11, 4.62 ERA) starts Wednesday against Red Sox rookie left-hander Jake Bennett (9-7, 3.69 ERA). It will be Gore’s 32nd start, which matches the major league lead. First pitch is 7:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network.
