While Red Sox fans haven’t had a lot to cheer about at home, Ceddanne Rafaela changed that – for an afternoon anyway – with a clutch, two-run go-ahead single that came with two outs in the seventh to give Boston a 4-2 lead in Saturday’s win.
The 25-year-old center fielder ranks second on Boston in batting average (.291), doubles (14) and stolen bases (seven).
“Every win matters,” Rafaela said. “Especially at home. I want the fans to be happy, that’s what we are showing up for to try and accomplish.”
With two straight wins, Jarren Duran said Boston has to stay focused as it has the chance to get on a roll. Duran launched a two-run homer in the eighth to provide the Red Sox bullpen with breathing room.
“We are picking it up, which is good,” Duran said. “We just need to put our heads down and keep going.”
Connelly Early is scheduled to make his first career appearance against the Rangers.
Here’s the preview.
RANGERS (34-36): Langford DH, Jung 3B, Nimmo RF, Duran SS, Burger 1B, Foscue 2B, Freeman LF, Higashioka C, Osuna CF
Pitching: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-7, 4.26 ERA)
RED SOX (29-39): Yoshida DH, Rafaela CF, Abreu RF, Contreras 1B, Duran LF, Durbin 3B, Kiner-Falefa 2B, Mayer SS, Narváez C
Pitching: LHP Connelly Early (5-4, 3.30 ERA)
Time: 7:20 p.m.
TV, radio: NBC, Peacock, WEEI-FM 93.7
Rangers vs. Early: Elias Díaz 1-3
Red Sox vs. Eovaldi: Wilyer Abreu 3-7, Willson Contreras 0-3, Jarren Duran 2-9, Isiah Kiner-Falefa 4-14, Andruw Monasterio 0-0, Carlos Narváez 1-2, Ceddanne Rafaela 0-6, Connor Wong 4-9, Masataka Yoshida 2-7
Stat of the day: Jake Burger hit his 100th career home run on Saturday. He leads the Rangers in homers (12) and RBIs (42).
Notes: In 12 appearances, including 11 starts, against one of his former teams, Nathan Eovaldi is 4-1 with a 4.68 ERA. He’s racked up 46 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings pitched. … After scoring just four runs in the first two games of the series, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said his club’s offense has to provide more support for its pitching staff. “The challenge for us is providing more cushion on the offensive side for our starting pitchers,” Schumaker said. Michael Helman, who has 30 at-bats in 15 games, was hit by a pitch on his right hand in the eighth inning on Saturday and exited the game. “Michael has multiple fractures in at least one finger, if not two,” Schumaker said. “He will be out for a bit, (the pitch) got him pretty good.”
Cam Kerry can be reached at cam.kerry@globe.com.
