BOSTON (AP) — Kutter Crawford carried a perfect game into the sixth inning and Connor Wong highlighted a 12-hit attack with a three-run homer as the Boston Red Sox beat the slumping Texas Rangers 9-4 on Tuesday night.
Rob Refsnyder and Nick Sogard each drove in a pair of runs as the Red Sox dealt Texas its third straight loss and its sixth setback in seven games. Crawford was able to retire the first 16 batters he faced and got enough offensive support for Boston to hold on against the Rangers.
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BOSTON (AP) — Kutter Crawford carried a perfect game into the sixth inning and Connor Wong highlighted a 12-hit attack with a three-run homer as the Boston Red Sox beat the slumping Texas Rangers 9-4 on Tuesday night.
Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung fields a ground out by Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela during the third inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox's Connor Wong, right, celebrates with Boston Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder (30) after his three-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu, left, beats the tag by Texas Rangers catcher Carson Kelly to score on a single by Dominic Smith during the eighth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
“I felt pretty good obviously,” said Crawford, who was perfect longer than any Boston pitcher since Rick Porcello was perfect through 5 1/3 at Oakland on Sept. 3, 2016. “The first five, I was kind of on cruise control. I was able to execute some pitches and got some quick outs. They were aggressive and I was able to take advantage of that.”
The defending World Series champion Rangers also dropped a season-worst 10 games below .500 at 55-65. Texas manager Bruce Bochy was ejected in the middle of the sixth after arguing a called third strike that ended a four-run rally as the Rangers got back into the game.
Boston won for just the second time in six games despite some shaky relief after Crawford was lifted in the sixth.
Crawford (8-9) wound up working 5 1/3 innings before the Rangers broke through. Carson Kelly broke up Crawford’s perfect start and no-hit bid with out in the sixth, lining a single to left and kicking off Texas’ first rally of the game. Leody Taveras followed with a single up the middle and Marcus Semien broke up the shutout bid with a double to left, driving in Kelly for the Rangers’ first run.
“In the sixth, I ran into some trouble. But overall, the offense did a great job in scoring a bunch of runs again,” Crawford said. “... When I take the mound, every start that’s kind of what I’m shooting for.”
Crawford was pulled after Semien’s double and received a warm ovation from the fans at Fenway Park. They were less forgiving when reliever Cam Booser allowed an RBI single to Josh Smith, and walked Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe with the bases loaded. That was it for Booser, who left to a chorus of boos with Boston’s lead cut to 6-4.
Boston manager Alex Cora said the Rangers showed just how quickly they can turn around a game.
“They’re good hitters," Cora said.
The Red Sox scored five in the fifth, loading the bases with one out on a single by Ceddanne Rafaela, David Hamilton’s double and a walk by Masataka Yoshida. Refsnyder, who had the game-winning hit Monday in Boston’s 6-5, 10-inning victory, lined a single up the middle, driving in two runs and giving Boston a 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Wong cleared the bases with a homer to left that put Boston up 6-0 and chased José Ureña.
Wong wasn't sure his hit toward the left-field pole was going to have the height to clear Fenway's Green Monster. But, he went deep for the 11th time this season and helped the Red Sox to their 50th game with at least 10 hits.
Ureña pitched 4 ⅔ innings, allowing six runs, all earned, on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Bochy had some words for home-plate umpire Erich Bacchus and crew chief Laz Diaz after Wyatt Langford was called out looking at strike three on a pitch from reliever Lucas Sims. Langford felt the pitch was low and outside and immediately turned toward Bacchus. Bochy came out of the dugout with a few more words for Bacchus and Diaz before Bacchus tossed the Texas skipper.
Boston added three insurance runs in the eighth after Dominic Smith blooped a single to shallow right, where three Texas players converged only to watch it drop, loading the bases with no outs. Nick Sogard followed with a single to right that scored Wong and Wilyer Abreu,.
NOT AGAIN
Just a week ago, the Rangers were close to being held hitless through eight innings against Houston's Framber Valdez. Corey Seager, who was 0 for 3 against the Red Sox, broke up Valdez's bid with a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth. Houston held on to win 4-2.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers: RHP Nathan Eovaldi was not with the club and will miss his next scheduled start on Wednesday. Eovaldi, who won a World Series title with the Red Sox in 2018, left his start Saturday at the Yankees after three innings because of soreness in his right side. Manager Bruce Bochy said before Tuesday’s game that the Rangers want to give Eovaldi a few extra days of rest before putting him back in the rotation.
Red Sox: LHP James Paxton, placed on the 15-day injured list with what was thought to be a strained right calf, said Tuesday it was actually a partially torn muscle. Cora said it was a “long shot” that Paxton, who came to Boston from the Dodgers in a trade last month, will be able to pitch again this season, but was hopeful Paxton could improve over the next few weeks.
UP NEXT
The Rangers did not announce a starter to take Nathan Eovaldi’s spot in the rotation for Wednesday’s series finale. The Red Sox will start RHP Tanner Houck (8-8, 3.02 ERA).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Texas Rangers pitcher Jose Urena delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung fields a ground out by Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela during the third inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox's Connor Wong, right, celebrates with Boston Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder (30) after his three-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu, left, beats the tag by Texas Rangers catcher Carson Kelly to score on a single by Dominic Smith during the eighth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets Friday, a day after the militant group’s leader vowed to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the militant group said.
Israel’s military said the rockets came in three waves Friday afternoon targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon.
In Gaza, Palestinian authorities said 15 people were killed overnight in multiple Israeli attacks.
An airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City hit a family home, killing six people including an unknown number of children, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.
Israel maintains it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children.
Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Meanwhile, the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah is promising to retaliate for deadly attacks on its communication devices after Israel’s defense minister announced a “new phase” of the war. Fears are increasing that 11 months of exchanges of fire between the two sides will escalate into all-out war.
Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. They have come close to a full-blown war on several occasions.
Here's the latest:
Palestinian authorities say 15 people were killed overnight in the Gaza Strip in multiple Israeli attacks.
An airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City hit a family home, killing six people including an unknown number of children, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.
In Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza City, another person was killed and several others injured when a vehicle was hit by an Israeli strike, the Civil Defense said.
Late Thursday, six more people were killed in a strike that hit a home in the center of Gaza City, while another was killed in Beit Lahya, north of Gaza City.
Israel maintains it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
Israel's foreign ministry said Friday it submitted two legal briefs in response to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against the country's leaders.
The court’s prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other Hamas leaders. One of them was since assassinated in what was believed to be an Israeli strike.
The foreign ministry said it has submitted two legal briefs challenging the court’s jurisdiction to arrest Israeli leaders and claiming the court did not provide Israel the opportunity to investigate itself before requesting the warrants.
“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor,” wrote Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein on the social media platform X. He said Israel remained “steadfast in its commitment to the rule of law and justice” and would continue to protect its citizens against militancy.
Israel is not a party to the court. Rights groups say the country has struggled to investigate itself in the past. Netanyahu has brushed off calls for a state investigation into the failings that led to the Oct. 7 attack.
BAGHDAD — A leader of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia was killed Friday in a strike in Syria, a war monitor and a militia official said.
Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group — which is different from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — said in a statement that Abu Haidar al-Khafaji was killed “while performing his duties as a security advisor in Damascus.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported that a leader in Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group was killed and another person injured in a drone strike on the car they were traveling in on the road to the Damascus airport.
An official with an Iraqi militia confirmed that a car carrying a group of militia members was struck in Damascus, killing one person and injuring three others. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
There was no comment from Israeli officials on the strike. Israel frequently strikes Iranian and Iran-linked groups in Syria but rarely acknowledges the strikes.
Tensions have heightened in the region following a wave of apparently remotely detonated explosions in Lebanon targeting pagers and walkie talkies belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah. The attacks, widely blamed on Israel, which has not commented on them, killed at least 37 people - including two children - and wounded about 3,000.
— By Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad
BEIRUT — Israel’s military killed two Hezbollah members who were planting explosives along the border over the weekend, Israel’s military and an official with a Lebanese group said.
The official with a Lebanese group said the two members of the militant group were killed Sunday and their bodies were taken by Israeli troops because they were too close to the fence along the tense frontier. The official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
On Thursday, Israel’s military released a video it said was taken by one of the fighters showing the militants coming under fire. The military said that the two fighters were killed by Israeli troops as they tried to plant an improvised explosive device near a military post.
In the days following the tense border interaction, thousands of devices exploded in different parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing 37 people and wounding around 3,000 others. The attack was blamed on Israel, and many of those killed or injured were members of Hezbollah.
Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.
Hezbollah members carry the coffin of their comrade who was killed when a handheld device exploded, during a funeral procession in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Right-wing Israelis with relatives held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and their supporters, rally against a hostage deal, in Jerusalem, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. The placard in Hebrew reads: " To bathe in his blood." (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Houses are engulfed in fire as the Israeli army raided the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians duck for cover as the Israeli army raided the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya on Thursday, Sept.19, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
FILE - Hezbollah fighters carry one of the coffins of four fallen comrades who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
