Game 67: Rangers at Red Sox lineups and notes
Following a day off after a 1-4 road trip, the Red Sox will be back in action at Fenway Park when they open a three-game series with the Rangers.
While a return home might do a team good after such a rough stretch, Fenway has not been so friendly for the Sox, who are a league-worst 10-21 at home this season.
They will be facing a Rangers squad that has won nine of 12 and each of their last four series to improve to .500 for the first time since May 1, and pull within one game of the Mariners for first place in the AL West.
“Some guys have really stepped up in the bullpen,” said Texas manager Skip Schumaker. “Our starting pitching, for the most part, has been really good as well, but we’ve had some timely hits, played small-ball, played the long ball, so I think we’re finally coming together as a team and finding different ways to win. That’s the biggest difference than maybe the beginning of the year.”
The good news for the Sox? Sonny Gray will get the start in the opener. The righthander is 5-0 with a 2.43 ERA in his last six starts.
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The Rangers will counter with righthander Jack Leiter.
Here is a preview.
Lineups
RANGERS (34-34): TBA
Pitching: RHP Jack Leiter (3-5, 4.69 ERA)
RED SOX (27-39): TBA
Pitching: RHP Sonny Gray (7-1, 3.20 ERA)
Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Rangers vs. Gray: Jake Burger 2-9, Ezequiel Duran 1-5, Elias Díaz 1-4, Kyle Higashioka 2-6, Josh Jung 0-3, Wyatt Langford 0-3, Nicky Lopez 2-14, Brandon Nimmo 5-13, Joc Pederson 0-11, Corey Seager 3-12
Red Sox vs. Leiter: Wilyer Abreu 1-4, Willson Contreras 1-2, Jarren Duran 1-5, Caleb Durbin 0-1, Isiah Kiner-Falefa 0-2, Carlos Narváez 0-1, Ceddanne Rafaela 1-3, Connor Wong 0-2
Stat of the day: The Red Sox are 1-5 against the AL West.
Notes: Gray is 11-5 with a 2.87 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) vs. the Rangers. In his most recent start, he allowed three runs on eight hits in 6⅓ innings in a 5-3 win over the Yankees on June 5. … Caleb Durbin has started the last 12 games, hitting .341/.348/.636 with eight extra-base hits. … Leiter is 1-1 with a 4.35 ERA in two career starts against the Red Sox, both last season. He gave up five runs on six hits in 4⅔ innings his last time out in a 6-0 loss to the Guardians on Saturday. … The Rangers are coming off back-to-back victories at Kansas City.
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