ARLINGTON, Texas — Mookie Betts went deep on an elevated fastball, and Dustin Pedroia came home on a pitch that got past the catcher.
Betts hit a tying two-run homer with two outs in the ninth, and Dustin Pedroia later scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in Boston’s four-run ninth inning as the Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 8-7 on Friday night.
"We caught a break on the wild pitch," manager John Farrell said. "This is a huge boost when you consider the confidence you can generate and gain from a win like this."
After falling behind 6-0 — when David Price had another tough start against the Rangers — the Red Sox got two-run homers from Hanley Ramirez in the fourth and Jackie Bradley Jr. in the sixth.
The big rally in the ninth came against Jake Diekman and hard-throwing rookie Matt Bush after the Rangers decided to give closer Sam Dyson some extra rest following their off day Thursday.
Betts’ 15th homer came off Bush (2-1), who had just taken over after pinch-hitter Sandy Leon hit an RBI double on the 11th pitch of his at-bat against Diekman. Pedroia then walked and went to third on Xander Bogaerts’ single.
Betts’ homer went out just over the 404-foot sign in centre.
"That one was one of the ones I figured was going to go out. If it didn’t, I would have probably cried," Betts said. "That’s a huge win."
Heath Hembree (4-0) worked a scoreless eighth before Koji Uehara struck out the side in the ninth for his second save.
Rangers manager Jeff Banister said the inning had set up well for lefty Diekman, plus he wanted to give Dyson some extra rest. Dyson, with 13 consecutive saves since taking over as closer May 18, came in leading the majors with 39 appearances.
"We’ve got to monitor, make sure and take care of," Banister said. "We’ve got to have other guys out there to be able to pitch in those type of situations, other than Dyson."
Shin-Soo Choo hit a leadoff homer against Price, and the first four Texas batters reached, including a two-run single on the first of Elvis Andrus’ three hits.
Prince Fielder hit his sixth homer for Texas, a solo shot in the fourth off reliever Matt Barnes.
Ian Desmond also had three hits for Texas, including an RBI single in the second after Bobby Wilson snapped an 0-for-15 slump with a double. An inning later, Wilson had a two-run single to chase Price with the Rangers up 6-0.
Price had gone at least eight innings in his previous three starts, and had a 2.47 ERA over his last eight starts for the Red Sox. The left-hander has given up more hits only once in his 234 career games, when the Kansas City Royals had 13 hits in 6 1/3 innings while he pitched for Detroit last season.
His ERA in seven regular season starts at Texas is now 7.68 — by far his worst at any opposing stadium.
"I’m definitely comfortable here, I just haven’t thrown the baseball (good)," Price said. "I’ve just got to come out and throw the baseball better against these guys."
NOT ROUTINE DOUBLE PLAYS
With the bases loaded in the first, Fielder hit a grounder to first baseman Ramirez, who threw home for the first out and then got back to the base to take the relay throw that completed the double play. Boston’s Travis Shaw grounded into an inning-ending 3-6 double play in the fourth, when first baseman Jurickson Profar fielded the ball, touched first and threw to second base where Andrus had to tag the runner.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: OF Chris Young was sore after being put on the 15-day disabled list with a right hamstring strain sustained Thursday, but manager John Farrell said Young’s "range of motion is not too bad at this point." … OF Brock Holt, who has missed 32 games since a concussion, could rejoin the team as early as next week if his rehab games with Triple-A Pawtucket go well this weekend.
Rangers: C Robinson Chirinos got an extra day off because of his sore right wrist, which is still bothering him after getting hit by a pitch. He played in both games against Cincinnati on Tuesday and Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: Right-hander Steven Wright (8-4), the AL leader with a 2.01 ERA, is 3-0 in four starts in June. The knuckleballer’s only no-decision in that span was Monday, when he allowed one unearned run in nine innings before Boston lost 3-1 in 10 innings to the Chicago White Sox.
Rangers: A.J. Griffin was 3-0 with a 2.94 ERA his first six starts before going on the disabled list May 8 with right shoulder stiffness. The Rangers will activate him from the DL to face the Red Sox for the first time since 2013.
