Rangers Fall to Red Sox in Series Finale

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

September 17, 2026

Red Sox 4, Rangers 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep 17) — The Texas Rangers missed out on a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 4–3 loss Thursday. Trevor Story pitched in with a three-run home run in the eighth inning. This setback puts the Rangers one game behind the AL West-leading Houston Astros, 6–2 winners over the Kansas City Royals Thursday night. As for the Red Sox, their magic number to clinch a playoff spot now sits at four. With this series in the rearview mirror, the Rangers host the Toronto Blue Jays for three starting Friday with first pitch set for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. It will be a matchup of right-handers as Dylan Cease (11–5, 2.38 ERA) goes up against Kumar Rocker (5–11, 4.54 ERA).

The Red Sox, meanwhile, will finish their road trip with a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays which will get underway Friday with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm Eastern at Tropicana Field. Left-hander Ranger Suarez (7–4, 3.33 ERA) will face fellow lefty Ian Seymour (9–6, 4.27 ERA).

Rangers — Red Sox Game Summary

For the second night in a row, the Rangers got on the board early. With righty Sonny Gray pitching in the bottom of the first, Jung sent one to right. It came on a 1–1 pitch and marked his 10th homer of the season.

The Rangers extended the lead to 3–0 in the bottom of the second. Wyatt Langford and Jake Burger drew back-to-back walks to open the frame. Nicky Lopez advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt to Caleb Durbin at third. Up next was Danny Jansen, who scored Langford with a single up the middle. Burger scored on the next play courtesy of a sacrifice bunt to Willson Contreras at first by Evan Carter.

The Red Sox got one back in the top of the seventh against reliever Robby Ahlstrom. Nate Eaton, pinch-hitting for Jarren Duran, led off with a walk. Durbin followed suit with a free pass of his own. Eaton moved to third when Nick Sogard flied to center. On deck was Roman Anthony, who drove in Eaton by grounding into a 6–4 force play. Anthony advanced another 90 feet on a throwing error by Lopez at second.

Red Sox Fight Back

The Red Sox leapfrogged the Rangers in the top of the eighth with reliever Jakob Junis pitching. Wilyer Abreu led off with a walk after an unsuccessful ABS challenge by Jansen behind the plate. Junis followed that up by hitting Contreras with a pitch, prompting the Red Sox training staff to check on him. He was lifted for pinch-runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

The Rangers countered the move by bringing in Jacob Latz to relieve Junis. On deck was Story, who belted a 2–2 pitch to left-center to give the Red Sox a 4–3 lead.

What Went Right for the Red Sox

Patience, while overlooked at times, is a big part of this game. The Red Sox waited for the right time to pounce on the Rangers’ bullpen with Story’s bomb in the eighth. Credit also goes to Eaton, Durbin, and Anthony for their collective effort in the seventh.

What Went Wrong for the Red Sox

The Red Sox hit a speed bump in the first inning on Jung’s long ball. Jansen had a nice RBI single and Carter came through with his sacrifice bunt that plated Burger.

Rangers Use an Opener

Rangers lefty Tyler Alexander made his fifth start and 69th overall appearance of the season, serving as the Rangers ‘opener’ Thursday. He retired three of the four batters he faced across a scoreless first inning, as a walk to Jahmai Jones was his lone baserunner allowed. In five starts this season, Alexander has a 1.50 ERA with only two hits allowed.

Cody Bradford entered in the second, marking his first relief appearance since July 30, 2024 at the St. Louis Cardinals (2 IP, 5 R-ER). Thursday was his first relief outing at Globe Life Field since Game One of the 2023 World Series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. Thursday, he logged 4 1/3 scoreless frames, giving way to Chase Silseth with one out in the sixth. Bradford struck out the side in the second on 11 pitches, the fewest pitches needed by the southpaw to fan all three batters faced in a single inning in his career.

After surrendering the homer to Story in the eighth, Latz was saddled with the loss, bringing his record to 3–3 with a 2.11 ERA. He allowed one earned run on on the homer and struck out one.

Another Quality Start for Gray

Red Sox starter Sonny Gray put together his 19th quality start of 2026. His line was 6 1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 R-ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 102 pitches/67 strikes. He trails only Michael Wacha of the Royals (20 QS) for the AL lead. Thursday’s outing included several uncharacteristic occurrences amid a good campaign. Gray yielded the solo shot to Jung in the first, his first long ball allowed in the opening frame since June 18 versus the Blue Jays (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.).

The win went to Wyatt Olds, improving his record to 2–0 with a 1.23 ERA after pitching one inning. He came on to relieve Gray with one out in the seventh and struck out one.

Reliever Garrett Whitlock notched his fourth save of the year after walking one in the ninth.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker gave his take on the series as a whole. “I thought it was a really good series,” he said. “We would have loved to have gotten that last win, obviously, especially this time of year. Every win, every loss, counts in a different way right now. … But you move on to the next one. That’s the only thing you can do. Every loss hurts right now, but we have a job to do and it’s to try to win however we can tomorrow. We had a chance to win tonight. We went down with our leverage guys. Now we do whatever we can to try to win tomorrow.”