Central Plains FFA Chapter

09/16 22:14 CDT Rangers reach .500 again and tie for AL West lead with 7-3 victory over Red Sox Rangers reach .500 again and tie for AL West lead with 7-3 victory over Red Sox By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writer ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) --- Brandon Nimmo hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning before Ezequiel Duran added a two-run single, and the surging Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 on Wednesday night to pull even with Houston atop the AL West. Nathan Eovaldi (11-9) allowed one hit over four scoreless innings in relief to finish the game, earning the win in his second appearance since missing a month because of elbow inflammation. The Rangers (76-76) have won four in a row to reach .500 for the first time since they were 66-66 on Aug. 24. They moved into a first-place tie in the division race when the Astros lost 5-2 to Kansas City at home. Boston (82-70) has lost five of seven but holds the second American League wild card by five games over the Chicago White Sox. Erik Miller (4-1), the third of four Red Sox pitchers, worked the seventh when the Rangers scored three times. Boston went ahead 3-2 in the fifth after reliever Jakob Junis dropped the ball while on the rubber, resulting in a balk that sent a runner home from third base. That was soon after left-hander MacKenzie Gore left his 32nd start of the season, tied for most in the majors. He allowed only two hits, but walked three without a strikeout. Willson Contreras hit his 27th homer in the first inning, a two-run shot that put the Red Sox up 2-0. Justin Foscue doubled on the first pitch thrown by Red Sox rookie starter Jake Bennett and scored on a ground-rule double by Jake Burger. Texas tied it at 2 on Foscue's RBI single in the fourth, and Wyatt Langford had an RBI single in the fifth.

Up next Red Sox RHP Sonny Gray (17-5, 2.76 ERA) goes for his MLB-leading 18th victory in the series finale Thursday. LHP Cody Bradford (0-5, 4.72) starts for the Rangers. ___ See AP's full MLB coverage here