BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 4, Rangers 2 - Crawford, offense get it done as Boston returns to win column

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Rangers, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Crawford, offense get it done as Boston snaps skid: The Red Sox picked up their first win in four games and their first road win in five games with a 4-2 win against the Rangers in the series-opener in Texas on Monday. Rob Refsnyder's RBI single in the eighth inning scored the tying and winning runs for Boston before Adam Duvall drove in insurance with for the 4-2 final. Marcus Semien opened the scoring with a first-pitch home run in the bottom of the first, but Kutter Crawford settled in, throwing 6.0 strong innings before Garrett Whitlock, Josh Winckowski and Chris Martin held it down in relief. 

TURNING POINT

Top of the eighth: Down 2-1, Boston had a quick start to the top of the eighth in search of an offensive spark. Luis Urias walked before a Connor Wong double had runners on third and second, and Texas loaded the bases after intentionally walking Rafael Devers. Refsnyder came through with a single to the opposite field to score Urias and Wong to flip the game in Boston's favor, now leading 3-2. Duvall kept the scoring going with a deep sacrifice fly to right, scoring Devers to make it 4-2. 

In a theme all too familiar to the Rangers in September, after Jordan Montgomery threw 6.0 one-run innings, the bullpen couldn't get it done behind him with Will Smith heading the struggles in the eighth. Texas' bullpen has the worst ERA (6.72) in all of baseball this month. 

From there, Whitlock and Martin came through for Boston to maintain the lead and help the Sox secure the win in the series opener. 

FIVE UP

Kutter Crawford: Had his best outing in a month, going 6.0 strong innings. Allowed just four hits and two runs (earned), walking none and striking out seven. Got it done even with his velocity and spin rates (mostly) down across the board. Had his fastball working and relied on it as such. Effectively used all four quadrants of the zone, especially with his cutter and fastball up in the zone, inducing plenty of weak contact. Showed good resolve to have the outing he did after Semien hit a bomb off him on the first-pitch fastball.

"It happens, but guess what? You still have the whole ballgame ahead of you," Crawford told reporters. "My focus was just to go right back at guys, attack the zone and try to give my team the best chance to win."

Rob Refsnyder: Bounced back from a rough start (and rough stretch of late) with a clutch two-RBI single in the eighth to put Boston ahead. Despite going relatively cold recently, he's still hitting .310 with 21 RBI, an .825 OPS and seven extra-base hits against lefties this season. 

Rafael Devers: Putting together a strong finish to the season, hitting .350 in September and going 5-for-9 over his last three games. Finished 2-for-3 with a walk, a run and a strikeout.  

Bobby Dalbec: Continues to have a good start to his showcase with hits in two straight and picked up his first double in the MLB this season. Finished 2-for-4 with a run and a strikeout. Good piece of hitting on his double, going deep to the opposite field in the corner in right. 

Bullpen: Locked it down in relief of Crawford. Winckowski struck out three in the seventh inning and pitched himself around a jam with runners on first and second, keeping the deficit at 2-1. Whitlock had a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth to follow up Boston's big swing in the top half of the inning, inducing three groundouts. Martin had a stress-free ninth, save for a single, racking up two strikeouts before inducing a groundout to end the game. Martin has a 0.86 ERA since Sept. 4 of last season in high-leverage spots, according to NESN.

ONE DOWN

Ceddanne Rafaela: Weak link at the plate, going 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts in the leadoff spot. Had no answer for curveballs, swinging at 63 percent out of the zone. Finished the game swinging at 46 percent of the pitches he saw outside of the zone, per Baseball Savant. 

NOTABLE 

Urias had a solid day all around. Went 2-for-3 with a run, an RBI for insurance in the eighth. 

It was the fifth time in the last six games that Boston had gotten a start of 6.0 or more innings out of a starter. 

The Red Sox were 2-for-8 (.250) with RISP. They were .151 with RISP since Sept. 6 entering the game, a league-worst. 

The Rangers have lost four straight, getting outscored 27-8 in that span. 

QUOTE OF NOTE

"It was a good one. You know, we gotta keep playing. We're not going to quit," Alex Cora told reporters. "We have to win as many games as possible the rest of the way, and today it was a good day."

UP NEXT

The second of the three-game set will be Tuesday in Arlington. First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. RHP Tanner Houck (5-9, 4.84 ERA) is set to face old friend RHP Nathan Eovaldi (11-4, 2.96 ERA).