The Red Sox had a chance Sunday to finish a rare home sweep of the Rangers after winning the first two games of the series. Nathan Eovaldi was set to start for Texas, while Connelly Early was lined up for Boston.
That is the kind of opportunity the Red Sox have rarely had at home this season. They entered Sunday with a 2-8-1 record in home series, a blunt reminder of why Chad Tracy said Boston has to play better in its own park to climb out of the American League East cellar.
Saturday showed why the sweep was within reach. Ceddanne Rafaela delivered a two-run go-ahead single with two outs in the seventh inning, and Jarren Duran followed with a two-run homer in the eighth to give the bullpen breathing room in a 4-2 win. Rafaela has been one of Boston's most productive hitters, ranking second on the club with a.291 batting average, 14 doubles and seven stolen bases.
The Rangers had little answer at the plate in the first two games, but they did get a milestone from Jake Burger, who hit his 100th career home run on Saturday. Burger leads Texas with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs, yet the offense still has not given its pitchers much support. Skip Schumaker said the Rangers need more cushion from the bats, a point that matters even more with Eovaldi making his 13th appearance, and 12th start, against one of his former teams.
Boston's own margin was helped by a brief but costly moment for Texas in the eighth inning. Michael Helman was hit on his right hand and left the game after 30 at-bats in 15 games, and Schumaker said he has multiple fractures in at least one finger, if not two, and will be out for a bit. That injury does more than thin a roster; it removes a player who had been getting scattered chances and leaves the Rangers with one less option while the series is still live.
For the Red Sox, the next step is simple and harder than it sounds: turn two good wins into a sweep and make the home record look less like a season-long problem. If Early gives Boston the kind of start it has gotten from its lineup over the past two days, Sunday becomes more than another game. It becomes a small but real answer to the bigger question hanging over this team at home.
