Jonah Heim and Leody Taveras hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning to help the Texas Rangers end a three-game losing streak by beating the Boston Red Sox 7-4 on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Heim hit a three-run homer against Boston starter Tanner Houck that tied the game at 3. Taveras followed with a home run against Houck to put Texas in front, 4-3.
Josh Smith had three hits for Texas, which had 13 hits in the game.
Boston’s Rob Refsnyder had two solo home runs, an RBI double and a single during a four-hit game. Refsnyder hit his sixth home run of the season in the first inning, and then collected home run No. 7 in the fourth. It was the first multi-homer game of his career.
Jose Leclerc (5-4) earned the win for tossing two-thirds of an inning of scoreless relief. Leclerc struck out Ceddanne Rafaela with the bases loaded to end the fourth.
Texas closer Kirby Yates recorded four outs to earn his 20th save. Yates entered the game with runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth. He struck out Jarren Duran with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Houck (8-8) allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
Boston’s Rafael Devers extended his hitting streak to 10 games when he doubled in the fourth. Connor Wong followed with an RBI single that extended Boston’s lead to 3-0.
After scoring four runs in their half of the fourth on the home runs by Heim (No. 10) and Taveras (No. 9), the Rangers took a 7-3 lead by adding three runs in the sixth. Ezequiel Duran, Taveras and Smith each had an RBI single in the inning.
The Red Sox sliced their deficit to 7-4 when Refsnyder’s double in the seventh drove in Rafaela, who opened the inning with a single.
Boston outfielder Tyler O’Neill did not play Saturday. Boston manager Alex Cora said O’Neill is dealing with an illness and may not be available Sunday either.
–Field Level Media
