Red Sox at Rangers
The Boston Red Sox appear to have recovered from their brief plunge as they vie for their third straight victory when they visit the Texas Rangers on Sunday for the finale of their four-game series. Boston lost five of seven contests after getting off to a 17-2 start this season but has bounced back by winning five of seven.
The latest win by the Red Sox was a nailbiter as they battled back from a pair of deficits Saturday and came away with a 6-5 triumph as Andrew Benintendi hit a one-out triple in the top of the ninth inning and scored on Hanley Ramirez's sacrifice fly. Benintendi recorded his second three-hit performance in four games and added an RBI while Mitch Moreland homered in his third consecutive contest for Boston, which is in the midst of a 10-game road trip that continues Tuesday with a showdown against the New York Yankees. Saturday's setback was the third in four games for Texas, which relied on its power to score its runs. Joey Gallo belted a pair of solo homers and Delino DeShields launched a three-run shot as the duo combined to record four of the Rangers' six hits.
TV: 3:05 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Chris Sale (2-1, 2.14 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Doug Fister (1-2, 2.88)
Runs have been hard to come by this season against Sale, who has allowed two or fewer in five of his seven starts and three in each of the other two outings. The 29-year-old Floridian settled for a no-decision versus Kansas City on Tuesday despite giving two runs - one earned - and five hits in seven innings. Sale owns a 5-2 record and 3.34 ERA in 12 career games (eight starts) against the Rangers.
Fister has yielded two earned runs or fewer in four of his five starts but has worked more than five innings just once. That occasion took place Tuesday in Cleveland, where the 34-year-old Californian allowed two unearned runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings of a no-decision. Fister, who spent last season with the Red Sox, is 2-4 with a 4.36 ERA in eight career starts against his former team.
WALK-OFFS
1. DeShields is riding a nine-game hitting streak during which he is 15-for-39 with six two-hit performances.
2. Boston activated Eduardo Rodriguez from the family medical leave list and optioned fellow LHP Bobby Poyner, who tossed a scoreless inning on Friday after being recalled earlier in the day, to Triple-A Pawtucket.
3. Texas 2B Rougned Odor (hamstring) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Frisco on Saturday while RHP Tim Lincecum (finger) will start his with Triple-A Round Rock on Monday.