Rangers Drop Series Finale to Red Sox

Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images

August 4, 2024

Red Sox 7, Rangers 2

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Aug 4) — The Texas Rangers lost their series finale to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon, 7–2 in front of a crowd of 34,532. Home runs by Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, and David Hamilton were key in helping the Red Sox nail down the series win. With this series in the books, the Rangers welcome the Houston Astros to Arlington for three games starting on Monday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm Central. Right-hander Hunter Brown (9–7, 4.11 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Astros, while lefty Andrew Heaney (4–11, 4.12 ERA) will get the ball for the Rangers.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, will finish their six-game road trip with three against the Kansas City Royals. That series will also begin on Monday with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm Central at Kauffman Stadium. Left-hander James Paxton (8–3, 4.52 ERA) will take the mound for the Red Sox, while righty Brady Singer will get the start for the Royals.

Rangers Score Quickly

The Rangers got on the scoreboard almost instantly in the top of the first. With Nick Pivetta on the mound for the Red Sox, Josh Smith flied to right to lead off the frame. On deck was Corey Seager, who woke the crowd up with his 22nd home run of the season, a solo shot to right. The Rangers added a second run in the bottom of the second on a solo homer to left by Josh Jung, his third of the season. The Red Sox cut the lead in half in the top of the third off Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi. After Ceddanne Rafaela grounded to third to start the frame, Hamilton singled sharply to right. Duran plated Hamilton with a double to center.

Red Sox Take Lead

The Red Sox tied it up in the top of the fourth on a solo dinger to left-center by Abreu, his 11th of the year. In the top of the fifth, Duran made it 3–2 Red Sox with a solo blast to right-center. The Red Sox stretched the lead to 6–2 in the top of the sixth. Rafael Devers singled to center to lead off the inning. Up next was Connor Wong, who advanced Devers to third with a double to left.

That brought Rangers manager Bruce Bochy out of the dugout to bring in reliever Walter Pennington. The first batter he faced was Abreu, who belted a three-run homer to right-center. The Red Sox added another run in the top of the eighth off Rangers reliever Brock Burke. With two outs, Hamilton stepped in and deposited one into the seats in right for his sixth home run of the season.

What Went Right for the Red Sox

The Red Sox continued their power surge on Sunday afternoon. They hit three home runs, and they also scored several more runs on base hits. It’s great when you have power in your lineup, and it’s great when you can hit for average. When you can both in the same game, you are going to be hard to beat. Their pitching staff also did a nice job as the bullpen produced 4 1/3 scoreless innings.

What Went Wrong for the Red Sox

The Red Sox also gave up a couple of home runs as well. The blasts by Seager and Jung got the Rangers a 2–0 lead, and the Rangers were able to come back in convincing fashion. Baseball is a funny game. Sometimes you have everything working for you, and some nights you have nothing working for you. In Sunday’s series finale, the Red Sox had things go both ways, but they were able to put this one in the win column.

Tough Day for Eovaldi

Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi took the loss after allowing five runs, all earned, in five innings. His line on the afternoon was 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R-ER, 1 BB, 7 SO, 2 HR, 99 pitches/66 strikes. Sunday was his second defeat in Arlington this season. He now owns a record of 8–5 with an ERA of 3.62. Eovaldi surrendered the pair of home runs to Abreu and Duran, and has allowed at least one homer in each of his last four outings.

Eovaldi issued a walk to Masataka Yoshida in the first inning after a questionable check-swing call by third base umpire D.J. Reyburn. It snapped Eovaldi’s streak of 167 batters faced and 43 innings without permitting a walk dating back to his last free pass allowed on June 26 against the Milwaukee Brewers (Willy Adames). It is the longest walk-less span by innings and batters faced in franchise history and the longest by any major league pitcher since San Francisco Giants pitcher Ross Stripling from 7/2-8/16/23 (169).

Pivetta’s Afternoon

Red Sox starter Nick Pivettad did not factor into the decision despite exiting with a 3–2 lead after allowing two runs, both earned, over 4 2/3 innings. Both of the hits he allowed were the solo shots by Seager and Jung. Pivetta has yielded multiple dingers in three consecutive starts, his longest streak of starts allowing multiple long balls since 6/14-7/3/19 as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.

He has allowed 19 home runs in 95 1/3 innings this season, translating into 1.79 HR/9. He entered play with the third-highest HR/9 figure in the AL. Pivetta has fared better on the road with a 3.76 ERA in 10 starts than at home, where he has posted a 5.27 ERA in eight starts in 2024. After entering the game in the fifth and tossing a perfect inning and a third in relief, lefty Cam Booser earned the win. His record is now 2–2 with an ERA of 2.65.

Postgame Comments

After the game, Bochy reflected on his decision to take Eovaldi out after the fifth. “I just didn’t want to grind Nate through that inning,” Bochy said. “Nate really had good stuff. First couple of innings he had to work hard. I thought he had really good stuff. Just got away from us there in the sixth.”