BOSTON (AP) — Kutter Crawford pitched a perfect game until the sixth inning and Connor Wong capped a 12-hit attack with a three-run home run to give the Boston Red Sox a 9-4 victory over the struggling Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.
Rob Refsnyder and Nick Sogard scored two runs each as the Red Sox handed Texas its third straight loss and sixth setback in seven games. Crawford struck out the first 16 batters he faced and got enough offensive support to help Boston hold on against the Rangers.
“I obviously felt pretty good,” said Crawford, who has been perfect longer than any Boston pitcher since Rick Porcello, who went 5 1/3 perfect in Oakland on Sept. 3, 2016. “The first five games I was kind of on autopilot. I was able to make some throws and get some quick outs. They were aggressive and I was able to take advantage of that.”
The defending World Series champion Rangers also lost their season record, falling to ten games under .500 at 55-65. Texas manager Bruce Bochy was ejected in the middle of the sixth inning after contesting a third strike that ended a four-run rally as the Rangers got back into the game.
Boston won for only the second time in six games, despite some shaky outings after Crawford was substituted in the sixth inning.
Crawford (8-9) went 5 1/3 innings before the Rangers broke through. Carson Kelly broke Crawford’s perfect start and no-hit attempt in the sixth inning by hitting a single to left, starting Texas’ first rally of the game. Leody Taveras followed with a single to center and Marcus Semien broke the shutout attempt with a double to left, bringing Kelly home for the Rangers’ first run.
“I had a few problems in the sixth inning. But overall the offense did a great job again and scored a lot of runs,” Crawford said. “… When I step on the mound, that’s what I’m looking for every time I start.”
Crawford was taken off the field after Semien’s double and received a warm applause from the fans at Fenway Park. They were less forgiving when reliever Cam Booser allowed an RBI single to Josh Smith and walked Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe with the bases loaded. That was it for Booser, who left the field to a chorus of boos as Boston’s lead shrank to 6-4.
Boston manager Alex Cora said the Rangers showed how quickly they can turn a game around.
“They are good hitters,” said Cora.
The Red Sox scored five runs in the fifth inning, loading the bases with one out on a Ceddanne Rafaela single, a David Hamilton double and a Masataka Yoshida walk. Refsnyder, who had the game-winning hit in Boston’s 6-5 10-inning victory on Monday, hit a single to center, scoring two runs and giving Boston a 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Wong cleared the bases with a home run to left that gave Boston a 6-0 lead and chased José Ureña away.
Wong wasn’t sure his hit to the left post was high enough to clear Fenway’s Green Monster, but he hit a home run for the 11th time this season and helped the Red Sox to their 50th game with at least 10 hits.
Ureña pitched 4 ⅔ innings, allowing six runs, all earned, on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Bochy had a few words for home plate umpire Erich Bacchus and crew chief Laz Diaz after Wyatt Langford was ruled out on strike 3 on a pitch from reliever Lucas Sims. Langford thought the pitch was too low and too far and immediately turned to Bacchus. Bochy came out of the dugout and said a few more words for Bacchus and Diaz before Bacchus ejected the Texans captain.
Boston added three more runs in the eighth inning when Dominic Smith hit a single to shallow right field, where three Texas players gathered and saw the ball drop, loading the bases with no outs. Nick Sogard followed with a single to right that scored Wong and Wilyer Abreu.
