Kiner-Falefa, Calhoun Power Rangers Past Red Sox 8-6
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Isiah Kiner-Falefa homered and had an RBI triple among his trio of hits, and Willie Calhoun's three hits included a two-run homer as the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 8-6 on Saturday night.
Josh Sborz (2-1) allowed one run in relief and struck out three of the five batters he faced to earn the win. Ian Kennedy whiffed all three hitters in the ninth inning for his sixth save in six opportunities.
Calhoun's homer off Matt Andriese (0-1) in the sixth gave Texas a 6-5 lead. Kiner-Falefa tripled home Charlie Culberson later in the inning.
Andriese gave up three runs and three hits in one inning.
Back-to-back doubles by Calhoun and Culberson in the eighth produced Texas' eighth run.
Looking to become the American League's first five-game winner, Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez left with a 5-4 lead after five innings. He allowed eight hits and threw 67 pitches.
Hunter Renfroe hit a two-run homer and J.D. Martinez had two singles and an RBI for Boston. Martinez went into play leading the majors with 25 RBIs.
Joely Rodriguez retired Xander Bogaerts on a bases-loaded grounder to leave the Red Sox scoreless in the eighth. Boston stranded 10 overall.
Texas starter Jordan Lyles gave up five runs in four innings and failed to win at home for the third time in three games this season.
Renfroe pulled a slider into the second deck in the second inning to give Boston a 2-0 lead.
The RBI singles by Martinez and Bogaerts that put the Red Sox ahead came off reliever Taylor Hearn to score inherited runners. The Rangers' bullpen extended its scoreless streak to 21 1/3 innings before Christian Vazquez's seventh-inning sacrifice fly scored Bogaerts.
Kiner-Falefa's fourth homer of the season matched his career high in only 28 games. His triple came on a liner just over the glove of second baseman Christian Arroyo that barely got past Renfroe in the right-center gap and rolled to the wall.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Red Sox: OF Kiké Hernández was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game after running into the center-field wall Thursday night. He entered in the eighth inning.
UP NEXT
Red Sox RHP Garrett Richards (1-2, 4.94 ERA) will start Sunday's finale of the four-game series, having recorded season highs Tuesday with seven innings, 93 pitches and 10 strikeouts in beating the New York Mets 2-1. He'll face Rangers RHP Mike Foltynewicz (1-3, 4.61), who comes off a 6-1 win over the Angels on Tuesday. He allowed eight home runs in his previous four starts.
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