Boston Red Sox shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela (43) applies the tag on Texas Rangers’ Marcus Semien at second to complete the double play in the second inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. Corey Seager was out at first on the play. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Marcus Semien drove in three runs and scored for the AL-best 115th time, Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver hit back-to-back homers, and the playoff-chasing Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 15-5 on Wednesday.
Rookies Josh Jung and Evan Carter each added two-run homers for the Rangers (84-68), who began the day a half-game behind Houston for the AL West lead and tied with division foe Seattle for the American League’s third and final wild-card spot.
Left-hander Martin Perez (10-4) struck out five while allowing three hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Jon Gray, who has now allowed 11 runs over 8 2/3 innings in his last three starts.
Boston, last in the AL East, dropped its fifth consecutive series even after jumping ahead 4-0. Adam Duvall hit a three-run homer in the first, and Bobby Dalbec had a leadoff shot in the second off Gray. The Red Sox have lost 12 of their last 15 games.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
The first seven Texas batters reached base in the bottom of the second off Brayan Bello (12-10). That included Heim's three-run homer just before Garver went deep — it was the 18th homer for both. Semien's two-run single capped the outburst that snapped the 4-all tie and put Texas ahead to stay.
Semien drew a bases-loaded walk in the third after an RBI single by Leody Taveras, who added a sacrifice fly an inning later.
Bello allowed eight runs and eight hits over three innings. He walked four, hit a batter, and struck out two.
Texas Rangers - World Series Champions
LOT OF HITS AND RUNS
Texas, which finished with 16 hits, broke franchise records by scoring at least 10 runs for the 26th time and at least 15 runs for the sixth time. The Rangers had already tied both of those records — the 25 games with 10 runs by the 2008 team, and five games with 15 runs in 1998. ... Every Texas starter had a base hit and scored a run, with Nathaniel Lowe the only one who didn't have an RBI. Jung, the All-Star third baseman in his third game back after missing six weeks with a fractured left thumb, had three hits and scored three times. In his 13th big league game, Carter also had three hits and scored twice.
100/100 FOR GARCIA
Rangers All-Star slugger Adolis Garcia, in his third game back after missing 10 games with a right patellar tendon strain in his right knee, walked in the second inning and scored on Heim's homer. That was the 100th run scored this season for Garcia, who got his 102nd RBI with a double in the fourth. The right fielder is the only the second Rangers player in the past 18 seasons to score 100 runs and drive in 100. The other in that span was Josh Hamilton in 2012, when he had 128 RBIs and 103 runs scores.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Red Sox: 2B Luis Urias exited the game with left calf tightness. He was lifted for a pinch-runner after his single in the seventh inning. ... Rookie OF Wilyer Abreu missed the entire series after he hurt his throwing hand crashing into the wall trying to make a catch on the game-ending play in their loss Sunday at Toronto. Manager Alex Cora said Abreu was feeling better.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: Boston is back at Fenway Park on Friday night to start its final homestand in a series opener against the Chicago White Sox.
Rangers: After their final off day of the regular season, the Rangers open their final home series of the regular season with the opener against Seattle on Friday night.
