Ceddanne Rafaela delivers clutch hit, Jarren Duran homers late as Red Sox beat Rangers 6-3

Ceddanne Rafaela followed up his three-hit performance in Friday night’s blowout win with another clutch moment on Saturday, delivering the decisive blow in the Red Sox’ 6-3 victory over the Rangers at Fenway Park.

With the score tied 2-2 in the seventh inning and the bases loaded, Rafaela fell behind in the count against Rangers left-hander Robby Ahlstrom before lining a curveball into left field for a go-ahead, two-run single.

In what has otherwise been a disappointing season for Boston, Rafaela has emerged as one of the lineup’s few consistent bright spots alongside Willson Contreras.

Before Rafaela’s late-game heroics, the Red Sox had to contend with 37-year-old Jacob deGrom. Entering with a 3.18 ERA and 84 strikeouts, the veteran right-hander looked every bit the ace early, retiring five of the first six batters he faced and cruising through the opening two innings.

deGrom was handed an early 1-0 lead in the third inning after Rangers shortstop Nicky Lopez singled and came around to score on Wyatt Langford’s softly hit single up the middle. The play was aided by a throwing error from Rafaela, whose attempt to catch Langford advancing sailed into the infield.

The lead didn’t last long.

Boston answered immediately in the bottom of the third, collecting four singles against deGrom. Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Marcelo Mayer opened the inning with back-to-back hits before Mickey Gasper drove in Kiner-Falefa with an RBI single to tie the game. Two batters later, Wilyer Abreu lined a two-out RBI single to give the Red Sox a 2-1 advantage.

Abreu has an RBI in back-to-back games for the sixth time this season.

Texas pulled even in the fourth against Ranger Suarez, who allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. After recording a strikeout, Suarez surrendered a sacrifice fly to Michael Helman that tied the game at 2-2. He escaped further damage by inducing a groundout to end the inning, limiting the Rangers to just one run.

The Rangers threatened again in the fifth, opening the inning with consecutive singles. Suarez responded by getting a ground ball that resulted in Lopez being caught in a rundown and tagged out at the plate. Although he walked Josh Jung to reload the bases with one out, the left-hander slammed the door by striking out Ezequiel Duran and Jake Burger looking to preserve the tie.

Suarez finished with two runs allowed over five innings, scattering six hits while walking two and striking out seven on 97 pitches. It wasn’t his sharpest outing, but he kept the Red Sox in the game and exited with the score tied. The left-hander has now allowed two or fewer runs in eight of his last 13 starts, though he has received a no-decision in six of those outings.

On the other side, deGrom settled in after Boston’s third-inning rally, retiring 10 of the final 11 batters he faced, including nine in a row from the third through the sixth. The veteran allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, striking out five without issuing a walk before handing the ball to the bullpen with the game tied 2-2. It also marked his fourth start this season of at least six innings without a walk, tied with Minnesota’s Joe Ryan for the second-most such outings in the majors.

The Red Sox once again saved their best offense for late in the game.

After Caleb Durbin struck out and Mayer fanned following an Kiner-Falefa single, Carlos Narváez kept the seventh inning alive with a slow roller that hugged the third-base line and clipped the bag for an infield hit. Pinch hitter Andruw Monasterio then drew a walk to load the bases, setting the stage for Rafaela’s go-ahead, two-run single that put Boston in front 4-2.

Chad Tracy’s bullpen management also paid off. Justin Slaten worked a scoreless sixth inning, allowing one hit while striking out one and throwing 12 of his 16 pitches for strikes before giving way to Garrett Whitlock in the seventh. Tracy then turned to hard-throwing Tyron Guerrero and veteran left-hander Danny Coulombe in the eighth to preserve the lead.

The Red Sox added breathing room in the bottom of the eighth when Contreras doubled to lead off the inning and Jarren Duran followed with a two-run homer, his 11th of the season. 

Duran entered the day batting just .158 (6-for-38) in June with one extra-base hit, 16 strikeouts, and no walks, and had started the game 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before delivering the insurance runs.

"I'm going to be honest with you: I've felt terrible," Duran said to reporters after the game. "Playing like [expletive] at the plate. But just gotta figure it the [expletive] out. I'm not really doing much for the team at the plate. So I've just gotta be better."

In 37 games since the start of May, Duran has 10 homers and 25 RBIs after entering May with one blast and 11 RBIs.

Aroldis Chapman closed out the ninth to earn his 381st career save, moving him within nine of Dennis Eckersley for ninth on the all-time list. The flamethrower also recorded his 1,359th career strikeout as a reliever, leaving him just four shy of Hoyt Wilhelm’s all-time record of 1,363.

The victory gave Boston just its second home series win of the season and improved the club to 29-39 overall. The Red Sox are now 4-3 over their last seven games at Fenway Park and picked up their 11th come-from-behind win of the year.

Boston will look for its first sweep of the Rangers on Sunday Night Baseball as rookie left-hander Connelly Early (5-4, 3.30 ERA) takes on former Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (5-7, 4.26 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. ET.