ARLINGTON - Twenty-four hours after reclaiming a share of first place, the Texas Rangers are looking up again.
Trevor Story's three-run homer in the eighth inning lifted the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 win Thursday night at Globe Life Field, snapping Texas' four-game winning streak and ending any chance of a series sweep.
Field Level Media and the Associated Press both put the Rangers at 76-77 - one game behind the Houston Astros (77-76) in the American League West after Houston beat Kansas City 6-2 behind a season-high five home runs.
The math flipped in a hurry. Wednesday's dead heat required Houston losses and Texas wins to keep pace. Thursday delivered the opposite: a late bullpen collapse in Arlington and a power night for Yordan Alvarez and company at Daikin Park.
How a 3-0 lead disappeared
Josh Jung opened the scoring with a first-inning solo homer, his 10th of the year. Danny Jansen's RBI single and Evan Carter's squeeze bunt built a 3-0 cushion in the early innings. Cody Bradford followed a one-inning opener with 4 1/3 shutout frames, the Associated Press noted, as Texas looked ready to pocket another win before Toronto arrives.
Boston finally scratched in the seventh when a throwing error by Nicky Lopez helped plate a run. In the eighth, Wilyer Abreu walked and Willson Contreras was hit by a Jakob Junis pitch. Jacob Latz entered, retired Adley Rutschman, then hung a 2-2 curve that Story drove to left-center for his fourth homer of the season.
Wyatt Olds earned the win; Garrett Whitlock closed it with a game-ending double play against Jake Burger for his fourth save.
The Associated Press framed the late-inning shock with a season-long context Texas cannot ignore: the Rangers fell to 63-2 when leading after seven innings. Boston improved to 8-59 when trailing after seven. One swing flipped a nearly locked game into a division-race setback.
Story, who is from nearby Irving, told reporters the Red Sox needed the momentum after a tough series. Contreras left after the hit-by-pitch on his right hand; he leads Boston with 27 home runs, Field Level Media reported.
