After evening the three-game series on a night that featured clutch hitting from both Wilyer Abreu and Alex Bregman, the Boston Red Sox look for their second consecutive win over the visiting Texas Rangers in a Thursday matinee.
The Red Sox broke a three-game skid with a 6-4 win Wednesday in which they logged 11 hits, but the right fielder and third baseman both went 3-for-4, scored twice and drove in three. Abreu homered twice, while Bregman added a clutch two-run double after hitting his 200th career round-tripper.
Abreu has recorded 17 of his 25 RBIs via home runs and leads the majors with six games with at least three RBIs, while Bregman is on a 19-game on-base streak following his sixth game with multiple extra-base hits.
“He helps his teammates, he helps coaches, pitchers, it doesn’t matter. He is locked in. Then he executes. That’s the most important thing,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Bregman. “He’s playing championship-caliber baseball.”
Brayan Bello (2-0, 2.55 ERA) will take the mound for Boston looking to build upon the longest of his three starts after beginning the season on the injured list with a right shoulder strain.
Bello worked 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and struck out five Friday against the Minnesota Twins, but did not factor into the decision in a 6-1 Red Sox win. He had won his first two starts since returning, allowing four earned runs over a combined 11 innings.
“Just something that you expect to see from him, especially with how good his stuff is,” Red Sox catcher Connor Wong said after Bello’s last start. “He stayed locked in all game and kept attacking.”
The 26-year-old righty is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in four career starts against Texas.
The Rangers rattled off 16 hits in a series-opening 6-1 win Tuesday, but now have just one other win across their last seven games.
In the second game with hitting coach Bret Boone in the dugout, half of the team’s offense Wednesday belonged to Josh Jung and Joc Pederson, who both had two hits. Jung and Adolis Garcia both homered.
Garcia is 10-for-27 (.370) with a home run and nine RBIs over his last eight games.
“He’s a big part of it. He’s giving us great at-bats. He’s battling up there,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of Garcia. “It’s good to see him swinging the bat the way he is.”
Strong starting pitching has kept Texas competitive of late despite its recent struggles, allowing two or fewer runs in 12 of its last 13 games.
Texas righty Jack Leiter (2-1, 4.58 ERA) pitched five innings of one-run ball against the Red Sox in earning his first major league win on March 28 and will aim to replicate his five-inning, one-run performance in this series finale at Fenway Park.
However, the 25-year-old Leiter must bounce back from his first loss of the season after allowing six runs on eight hits — including a pair of home runs — in 4 1/3 innings to the Seattle Mariners last Friday.
Right now, though, a continued spark from the offense is needed.
“I think with this slow start we’ve had, there’s people like Boonie who can maybe throw something out there we haven’t heard,” Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien said. “We have a group that’s good enough to hear something small and have it click and then we ride that into September and October.”
–Field Level Media
