Diaz, Rangers Beat Red Sox

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

September 15, 2026

Rangers 4, Red Sox 2

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep 15) — The Texas Rangers took the opener of their three-game set against the Boston Red Sox, 4–2, Tuesday in front of a respectable weeknight crowd of 30,907. With this victory, the Rangers remain one game behind the AL West-leading Houston Astros, also 4–2 winners on Tuesday over the Kansas City Royals. Additionally, the Red Sox magic number to clinch the postseason remains at five. Elias Diaz gave the Rangers a lift with a two-run double in the second inning. The Rangers will aim to win the series Wednesday with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. It will be a lefty love fest as Jake Bennett (9–7, 3.69 ERA) matches up against MacKenzie Gore (8–11, 4.62 ERA).

Rangers – Red Sox Game Summary

The Rangers broke into the run column in the bottom of the second with lefty Patrick Sandoval pitching. Brandon Nimmo set the table with a one-out single to center. After Wyatt Langford lined to center, Ezequiel Duran moved Nimmo up 90 feet with a single to left.

Diaz followed with a double to left to drive in both runners. Moments later, Justin Foscue and Danny Jansen reached on back-to-back walks to load the bases. That brought up Corey Seager, who plated Foscue and Jansen with a single to left.

The Red Sox cut the lead in half in the top of the third against right-hander Jacob deGrom. deGrom struck out Jarren Duran to open the frame, bringing up Caleb Durbin, who singled up the middle. On deck was Nick Sogard, who blasted a 2–2 pitch to right for his fifth home run of the season.

What Went Right for the Rangers

As previously mentioned, Diaz delivered the Rangers’ big hit of the night in the second inning. Some of the credit, however, goes to Nimmo and Duran for reaching base safely with their respective singles prior to Diaz’ at-bat.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Rangers ran into some trouble in the third inning when Sogard hit his two-run bomb. Other than that they kept the Red Sox silent for most of the game.

Five Frames for deGrom

Rangers starter Jacob deGrom battled through five stanzas to earn his 11th win of the season, limiting the Red Sox to two runs, both earned, on three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts on 92 pitches, 53 of which were strikes. He improves to 11–9 with a 3.79 ERA. The lone damage against him was Sogard’s two-run shot in the third. It was deGrom’s first dinger permitted to a nine-hole hitter this season, and only the sixth of his career. The previous home run was by Kevin Newman on July 28, 2025 at the Los Angeles Angels.

After his first two pitches of the fifth resulted in Red Sox hitters reaching base, deGrom retired three of the next four batters and wiggled out of a bases-loaded situation by inducing a side-retiring groundout from Adley Rutschman. deGrom became the second pitcher in franchise history to record 35 or more strikeouts and two or fewer walks over a four-game span, joining Cliff Lee from July 27-August 11, 2010 (36 K, 2 BB).

Reliever Jacob Latz nailed down his 30th save of the season after pitching a scoreless inning and two thirds in which he surrendered a hit and a walk while striking out three.

Sandoval’s Outing

Red Sox lefty Patrick Sandoval fell to 1–6 after tossing a season-low 2 2/3 innings pitched. His line was 4 H, 4 R-ER, 2 BB. and 5 K. Sandoval tossed 68 pitches, his second-lowest pitch total behind his 65-pitch season debut on July 9 at the Chicago White Sox. He pitched a perfect first but ran into trouble in the second, allowing four hits and two walks with damage coming on the two-run double by Diaz and two-run single by Seager.

Sandoval retired the first two batters of the third before being replaced by Brayan Bello. Sandoval has allowed four or more runs in 6 of 12 starts this year as his ERA sits at 4.99. He made his fifth career start at Globe Life Field and his first since a 6-IP, 1-ER outing on May 18, 2024 with the Angels.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker reflected on the success his team had against left-handed pitching Tuesday. “They threw a lot of lefties tonight,” he said. “We got after the starter, but just couldn’t add on runs against a really good bullpen. They kept it at two runs, but luckily (Elias) Diaz had a really good day. Two RBI, a huge double down the line really set the tone for us, and (Corey) Seager adding on with two more RBI was huge.