Wilyer Abreu homered twice and tied a career high with four RBIs a day after the death of his grandmother, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 7-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
Boston leadoff man Jarren Duran, who had three hits, connected on a tiebreaking homer for the second time in less than three weeks at the home of the Rangers.
The first of those two made Duran the MVP in the AL's 5-3 victory in the All-Star Game on July 16. The second added to his official total, a solo shot that was his 14th and put Boston up 3-2 in the fifth inning.
Abreu got news of his grandmother's death in Venezuela, and while teammates and the coaching staff were aware of her failing health, some didn't know what happened until after the 24-year-old was overcome with emotion in the dugout following the first homer.
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“That’s when I was like, ‘What happened here?’” manager Alex Cora said. “I saw him crying and I was like, ‘Oh, it happened.’ We talked to him, ‘I’m good to go. I’m good to go.’ And was he good to go.”
Corey Seager homered for the third time in the series for Texas — his 22nd of the season — and Josh Jung went deep for the first time in his fifth game back since missing three months with a broken right wrist.
Those homers gave the defending World Series champions a 2-0 lead and were the only hits allowed by Nick Pivetta, who was removed an out shy of qualifying for the win. The right-hander struck out five in 4 2/3 innings.
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Rookie Cam Booser (2-2) pitched a perfect 1 1/3 innings, the first of four Boston relievers who retired 13 of the 14 Texas batters they faced.
“I think in that situation, it’s just where we were with matchups and how the bullpen is and how they have been,” Pivetta said. “This is a must-win series for us right now. I think it takes a team effort to win. I did my job, and they did their job.”
David Hamilton also homered for Boston, his sixth.
Abreu triggered his first career multihomer game with a tying solo shot in the fourth off Nathan Eovaldi.
The Texas right-hander's streak without a walk ended at 43 1/3 innings and 167 batters, both franchise records, when Masataka Yoshida drew a free pass with one out in the first.
Walter Pennington made his Texas debut replacing Eovaldi (8-5) with two on and nobody out in the sixth, and Abreu greeted the left-hander with a three-run shot, his 12th of the season, for a 6-2 lead.
Pennington was in the minor leagues when the Rangers acquired him in a trade with Kansas City on July 29. His big league debut and only other appearance was with the Royals on July 5.
“I just didn’t want to grind Nate through that inning,” Texas manager Bruce 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.”
TRAINER'S ROOM
Red Sox: OF Tyler O'Neill was available off the bench a day after staying at the team hotel with an illness. ... Manager Alex Cora said RHP Chris Martin (elbow inflammation) might skip a rehab appearance and be available out of the bullpen for the Red Sox on Wednesday night in Kansas City.
Rangers: LHP Jacob Latz went on the 15-day injured list with left forearm tightness. LHP Brock Burke was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to take Latz's spot in the bullpen. ... OF Wyatt Langford was out of the lineup a second consecutive day. Manager Bruce Bochy said the rookie was dealing with back tightness.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: LHP James Paxton (8-3, 4.52 ERA) is set for his second Boston start since being traded by the Los Angles Dodgers. It's the opener of a three-game series in Kansas City on Monday night.
Rangers: LHP Andrew Heaney (4-11, 4.12) is scheduled for the opener of a three-game series at home against Houston.
