– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS — It was going to take everybody on the Texas Rangers’ roster to help the team snap a three-game losing streak on Saturday, especially when it fell behind early and another loss was staring the team down. And by everybody, we mean everybody.
Jonah Heim and Leody Taveras, the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters in the batting order, hit back-to-back home runs as part of a four-run fourth inning that game the Rangers the lead for good as they held on for a 7-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox inside Globe Life Field. Five Rangers relievers combined to throw 5 1/3 innings, allowing only one run while pitching into, and out of, a number of jams in the late innings.
Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the strength of two solo home runs from Rob Refsnyder, including his second in the top of the fourth inning to open up the three-run margin. The Rangers rallied back in the bottom of the frame, with each of the bottom three hitters playing a key role in the comeback. With a runner on first and two outs, No. 7 hitter Ezequiel Duran singled to left center after the ball was deflected by center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela in his pursuit of making what would have been an inning-ending catch.
Heim followed by hitting the first pitch off Red Sox starter Tanner Houck deep and just inside the right-field foul pole for his 10th homer of the season to tie the game at 3-3. Two pitches later, Taveras crushed a hanging split-finger fastball that landed in the first row of bleachers in right to give the Texas its first lead.
Duran also had two hits, while Josh H. Smith went 3-for-5 from the lead-off spot for the Rangers.
“That’s an area where we haven’t quite had the production [recently] that we had last year, or for the most part this year, and we got it tonight,” Bochy said. “That’s what it’s about, everybody doing something to contribute. Really, throughout the order, somebody did something to help us win that game.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 35 pictures in total.
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