The Boston Red Sox will attempt to complete their first sweep in more than a month when they conclude a three-game series against the visiting Texas Rangers on Wednesday.
A 9-4 win against Texas on Tuesday put Boston on the verge of sweeping a series for the first time since July 2-4 at Miami. The back-to-back victories to begin the current series followed four straight losses, including a three-game sweep by the Houston Astros last weekend.
Kutter Crawford's starting pitching effort was crucial to Boston's win Tuesday, as the right-hander opened with 5 1/3 perfect innings. However, Red Sox manager Alex Cora aggressively dipped into his bullpen to attempt to get out of the Rangers' four-run sixth inning.
"We're going to use everybody and we're going to try to get 27 outs however we can to win games," Cora said. "We're in the middle of a playoff chase, or whatever you want to call it. If I feel like that's the moment of the game, that's the moment of the game."
The Red Sox got another key moment from Rob Refsnyder on Tuesday. The outfielder has been a key contributor with three hits in the series, driving in two runs on Tuesday after hitting a walk-off single in the 10th inning of the series opener on Monday.
Refsnyder, who has reached base in 43 of his 49 starts this season, also serves as a key leader for a young offense that includes Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran.
"We've been playing our best baseball when our young guys have been pretty electric on the basepaths, playing uber-aggressive," Refsnyder said this week. "I think that's our identity this year."
The past two nights, Duran served a team-issued, two-game suspension for uttering a homophobic slur at a fan on Sunday. He is eligible to return on Wednesday.
The Red Sox will look to keep rolling in the series finale behind Tanner Houck (8-8, 3.02 ERA), who is winless in his past four starts.
The right-hander pitched six innings on Friday against Houston, allowing just one run on four hits before Boston's bullpen faltered in an 8-4 loss.
"It was a great game to look back and learn from, and continue to grow," Houck said.
The quality start followed his lone outing against Texas this year, when he permitted eight hits and six runs while striking out seven in five-plus innings during a 7-4 road loss on Aug. 3.
In three career matchups against the Rangers (two starts), Houck is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.
A year after winning the World Series, Texas is 10 games below .500 for the first time since the end of the 2022 season.
It was a difficult Tuesday for the Rangers, who were no-hit for five innings by Crawford and scored all four runs in one inning. Leody Taveras went 2-for-4 with a double and a run.
"Yeah, I mean, I guess you could call it pressing," Texas rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford said. "It's just tough. We can't seem to get it figured out on the offensive side."
The Rangers' lineup featured Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Josh Smith and Adolis Garcia at the top for the second straight game. Previously, Smith had led off and Semien hit third of late.
"It brought back good memories, seeing those guys in their normal place in the batting order," Texas manager Bruce Bochy said before the Tuesday game. "The hope is they see that, and it does the same for them."
The plan was largely unsuccessful, as the top four in the order went a combined 2-for-14, though the two hits each drove in a run.
The Rangers had not announced a starting pitcher for Wednesday as of late Tuesday night.
