Red Sox 5, Rangers 1
John Lackey pitched seven strong innings and Jackie Bradley Jr. finished with three hits and two RBIs as host Boston snapped its three-game losing streak.
The Red Sox posted their first home victory of the season following a weekend sweep by Milwaukee, getting three hits apiece from A.J. Pierzynski and Mike Napoli. Lackey (2-0) allowed an unearned run and five hits, striking out five while stranding the tying run at third in the seventh.
Tanner Scheppers (0-1) allowed two runs and nine hits in five innings as the Rangers lost for the third time in four games. Alex Rios and Shin-Soo Choo finished with two hits each for Texas.
Xander Bogaerts reached on a one-out infield single in the second and scored on Bradley’s two-out single to center. The Rangers tied the contest in the fourth as Adrian Beltre hit a one-out single and scored on Mitch Moreland’s sacrifice fly to center.
Pierzynski and Jonathan Herrera smacked back-to-back singles with one out in the fourth, and Bradley followed with a single to left-center to plate Pierzynski and push Boston ahead 2-1. Texas first baseman Prince Fielder's error on Bradley's bunt single in the eighth allowed a run to score before Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia each drove in one later in the frame to cap the scoring.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The bottom-third of Boston's lineup did substantial damage as Pierzynski, Herrera and Bradley combined to go 7-for-10 with two RBIs and four runs scored. … Texas manager Ron Washington unsuccessfully challenged a ruling on David Ortiz’s fielder’s choice in the first inning, on which Rangers SS Elvis Andrus bobbled the ball as he tried to tag the base ahead of Nava. … Rios, who stole 42 bases last season, swiped his first of 2014.