The Red Sox turned a quiet game into an offensive showcase, overwhelming Texas 10-1 at Fenway Park to end their four-game slide in emphatic fashion.
Sonny Gray controlled the Rangers throughout his six-inning start, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out seven without issuing a walk. The veteran right-hander improved to 8-1 with his 88-pitch effort, carrying a 3.03 ERA into his next outing.
Boston's offense came alive after a modest first inning. Langford singled to left to score Pederson for Texas's only run, but the Red Sox answered immediately. Abreu hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Rafaela, then Contreras homered to center to give Boston a 2-1 lead. The game broke open in the fifth inning with four runs. Rafaela doubled to left to score Gasper, Abreu doubled to left to score Rafaela, then Contreras reached on an infield single as Abreu scored on Jung's throwing error. Durbin hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Contreras and extend the lead to 6-1.
Jack Leiter absorbed the loss for Texas, allowing six runs over five innings. The Rangers starter gave up eight hits and walked two while striking out three, falling to 3-6 with a 4.97 ERA. Texas managed just six hits against Boston's pitching staff and committed two errors in the field.
Boston improved to 27-39 and snapped their losing streak, while Texas fell to 34-34 despite entering on a two-game winning streak. Gray sits 24 strikeouts away from 2,000 career strikeouts, while Pederson remains two doubles shy of 200 career doubles.