Duran, Rangers Stifle Red Sox

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

September 16, 2026

Rangers 7, Red Sox 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep 16) — The Texas Rangers secured a crucial series victory over the Boston Red Sox with a 7–3 win Wednesday. Ezequiel Duran had the big hit of the evening with a two-run single in the seventh inning. This win puts the Rangers in a tie for first in the AL West with the Houston Astros after the Kansas City Royals handed the former a 5–2 loss Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, the the Red Sox magic number to clinch the postseason remains at five. The Rangers will try for a three-game sweep Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Sonny Gray (17–5, 2.76 ERA) will face lefty Tyler Alexander (5–2, 3.38 ERA) in the finale.

Rangers – Red Sox Game Summary

The Red Sox jumped out to an early 2–0 lead in the top of the first against MacKenzie Gore. He allowed a leadoff walk to Roman Anthony before getting Jahmai Jones to fly to left. Anthony was tagged out at second when Wilyer Abreu grounded into a 4–6 force play. Up next was Willson Contreras, who went deep to left-center on a 2–0 pitch for his 27th long ball of the year.

The Rangers shrank the lead to 2–1 in the bottom of the first with lefty Jake Bennett on the mound. Justin Foscue led off with a double down the left-field line. Foscue scored a moment later thanks to a ground-rule double to right-center by Jake Burger.

The Rangers tied it in the bottom of the fourth. Wyatt Langford drew a free pass to open the frame. After Duran struck out swinging and Elias Diaz flied to center respectively, Danny Jansen moved Langford to second with a single that was bobbled by Caleb Durbin at third. Foscue plated Langford with a single to center.

Back and Forth

The Red Sox regained the lead in the top of the fifth. Durbin led off with a walk and Story followed with an infield single that gave Josh Jung problems at third. That led Rangers manager Skip Schumaker to bring in Jakob Junis to relieve Gore. He struck out former Ranger Isiah Kiner-Falefa swinging as Story swiped second for his fifth stolen base of the season. On deck was Mickey Gasper, pinch-hitting for Nate Eaton. Durbin scored from third when Junis committed a balk by dropping the ball. Story advanced to third on the play.

The Rangers took a 6–3 lead in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Erik Miller. He opened the stanza by hitting Corey Seager with a pitch before getting Jung to line to right. Burger followed by drawing a walk. On deck was Brandon Nimmo, who lined a sharp double up the middle to score Seager. After Langford struck out looking on an ABS challenge requested by Red Sox catcher Adley Rutschman, Duran brought home Burger and Nimmo with a single to left.

The Rangers tacked on one more in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Raymond Burgos. Diaz reached on a throwing error to first by Burgos and was lifted for pinch-runner Alejandro Osuna. Jansen laid down a sacrifice bunt that rolled back to Burgos to advance Osuna to second. After Foscue flied to center, Seager scored Osuna with a single to right.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers haven’t had any power come from their lineup in the last couple of games, so they’ve had to find other ways to score. That’s exactly what they did Wednesday. Duran and Nimmo both had RBI hits in the seventh, and Foscue brought in Langford with his single in the fourth. Burger and Seager had nice RBI hits as well.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Red Sox put up a fight in the early innings with the two-run blast by Contreras in the first. The Rangers had some misfortune in the fifth on the balk by Junis that scored Durbin.

Gore Labors through Four

Rangers left-hander MacKenzie Gore gritted through four-plus innings in his AL-leading 32nd start of the year. He took a no-decision for his effort. His line was 2 H, 3 R-ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 69 pitches/36 strikes, which tied a single-season career high. Gore had no strikeouts for only the second time in his 134 career starts. He issued a four-pitch walk to Anthony to begin his outing and needed 23 pitches to complete the first inning.

Righty Nathan Eovaldi earned the win in relief, turning in four scoreless innings to close out the game. His line was 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HB, 46 pitches/30 strikes. He grabbed his third career relief win, the first since August 14, 2019 at the Cleveland Indians with the Red Sox.

Eovaldi entered in a 3–3 tie to start the top of the sixth and allowed two of the first three batters to reach before retiring 11 straight to finish the game. He became the first Rangers pitcher to earn the win and throw four or more scoreless frames to end the contest since Jamey Wright on September 25, 2007 versus the Los Angeles Angels. Eovaldi has a team-high-tying 11 wins this season alongside Jacob deGrom.

Bennett’s Evening

Red Sox starter Jake Bennett took a no-decision after pitching 4 2/3 innings. His final line was 8 H, 3 R-ER, 1 BB and 7 K in his first career start against the Rangers. Bennett failed to reach five innings for the second time this season out of 19 starts. He labored in the first, throwing 26 pitches as he allowed three hits and one run in the inning. Bennett made it through the second and third innings unscathed before allowing a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings. Five of the eight hits he allowed were hit at 99+ mph.

Bennett is one of 12 rookie pitchers with 100 or more innings pitched and his 3.78 ERA ranks seventh in that group. He has walked one or zero batters in six straight starts as his season rate of 1.64 BB/9 ranks first in that same contingent.

Bennett made his first appearance at Globe Life Field since he tossed 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball for Oklahoma versus Texas Tech on May 26, 2022 in that year’s Big 12 Tournament.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Schumaker discussed what the atmosphere was like at Globe Life Field when Eovaldi entered the game. “I heard the crowd when he came in from the bullpen; that was pretty exciting,” he said. “I think it all gave us a boost of energy as well in a big series. What he provided was enormous.”

“It felt almost like a closer coming into the game,” Schumaker continued. “You know that type of feeling in the ninth inning when the music goes on, and the lights go out, that type of feeling. But it was early in the game, you’re just not used to feeling it. But I felt it.”

“I know what Evo means to this organization, to the fanbase, and to that clubhouse,” he said. “You know to see him walk out of that bullpen in front of the home crowd in a tie game and then to end up closing the game, you know that was a significant moment and you know something that I’ll remember for a long time.”

Eovaldi’s Postgame Comments

In a surprise appearance in the interview room, Eovaldi himself gave his thoughts on his night. “I definitely feel like there’s a different energy out there,” he remarked. “We’re playing really well. Mack (MacKenzie Gore) battled tonight, but we were able to fight back and tie the game up, and then it’s 3-3 for the majority of the time until the seventh. Guys are playing well. The bottom part of our lineup’s producing, the top part is still doing their thing. Defense has been great. Right now we’ve been playing really good baseball, and we just got to keep going.”