Red Sox 4, Rangers 3

 

Alright! That's how you do it! The Boston Red Sox, mired in a late-season, low-effort, .500 run, came back from a 3-0 deficit last night with some late-inning offense and won the game. See? You can do it! I knew you had it in you!

Not that the Rangers didn't give us a little boost. In the top of the seventh, Texas walked Eaton and Durbin with no outs, and then Sogard advanced Eaton to third on a sacrifice fly. Roman hit into a fielder's choice but brought Eaton home as the Sox managed to score a run in the inning without a single base hit. Thanks, Texas!

With the score 3-1 in the top of the eighth, the Rangers again gifted Boston. With no outs, they walked Abreu and put Contreras on base with a hit-by-pitch, putting on two more base runners without a hit. And then, Trevor Story stepped up to the plate and hit a game-winning home run 420 feet into deep left center. 4-3, Boston for the dub after Gamboa and Whitlock nailed down the save.

Sonny Gray uncharacteristically gave up three runs in the first two innings, but settled down for the next four to finish with six K's.

Good things happen when you win, and last night the Yankees lost, so Boston is back to "merely" 5½ back from the Yankees and remains five ahead of Cleveland in the Wild Card standings.

The Tampa Bay Rays remain in first place in the AL East, where they've been almost all of this season, and lead Boston by 10½ games. Tonight, the Sox head down to the humid, swampy backwaters of Florida for a three-game weekend series in Tampa and will probably get swept. 

But we can hope. We can dream. Tonight, Ranger Suarez (7-4, 3.33) will start against the Ray's Ian Seymour (9-6, 4.27).  Ranger hasn't yet faced the Rays in a Red Sox uniform and in two career starts against them has yet to get a decision, either win or lose. In 12⅓ innings, he's struck out nine and hasn't given up a single homer. Seymour has a 1-0 record against the Sox in two starts, but last July, in the 12th win of Boston's delicious 15-game winning streak, gave up homers to Jahmai Jones and Wilyer Abreu before getting yanked in the third inning without a decision. 

So you're telling me there's a chance?