Trevor Story's 3-run homer lifts Red Sox to 4-3 win, dropping Rangers into 2nd place in AL West

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Trevor Story hit a three-run home run off All-Star closer Jacob Latz in the eighth inning, capping a comeback from a three-run deficit as the Boston Red Sox beat Texas 4-3 on Thursday night and dropped the Rangers out of the AL West lead.

Texas (76-77) had won four straight games to gain a share of the lead but dropped one game behind Houston (77-76), which holds the tiebreaker. The Rangers trail by two games for the last AL wild card.

Boston (83-70) has a five-game lead for the top AL wild card and improved to 8-59 when trailing after seven innings. Texas dropped to 63-2 when leading after seven innings.

Latz (3-3) entered after Wilyer Abreu walked starting the eighth and Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch from Jakob Junis.

Latz struck out Adley Rutschman and Story, who is from nearby Irving, reached down for Latz's second straight low curveball and drove the ball over the left-field wall for his fourth home run this season.

Boston’s Wyatt Olds (2-0) got three outs and Garrett Whitlock pitched the ninth for his fourth save in eight chances, getting Jake Burger to ground into a game-ending double play.

Josh Jung hit a first-inning homer off Sonny Gray, and Texas opened a 3-0 lead in the second on Danny Jansen's RBI single and Evan Carter's safety squeeze bunt.

Roman Anthony hit into a run-scoring forceout in the seventh.

Texas’ Cody Bradford followed a one-inning opener with 4 1/3 shutout innings, seeking his first major league since Sept. 18, 2024. He missed last season following elbow surgery.

Gray gave up three hits in 6 1/3 innings, throwing a season-high 102 pitches.

Red Sox: LHP Ranger Suarez (7-4, 3.33) will go against LHP Ian Seymour (9-6, 4.27) on Friday at Tampa Bay.

Rangers: RHP Kumar Rocker (5-11, 4.54) starts Friday against visiting Toronto and RHP Dylan Cease (11-5, 2.38).

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Latz throws to the Boston Red Sox in the eighth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Arlington, Texas (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story, center, celebrates with the team after hitting a three-run home run in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Arlington, Texas (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

A fan attempts to reach a three-run home run ball hit by Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Arlington, Texas (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Boston Red Sox's Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2) and Trevor Story, right, celebrate Story's three-run home run in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Arlington, Texas (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story celebrates his three-run home run as he jogs past Texas Rangers' Ezequiel Duran (20) in the eighth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Arlington, Texas (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose in early Friday trading, getting a lift from a rally on Wall Street as well as declining oil prices.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.8% in early trading to 64,662.11, as the Bank of Japan ends a two-day monetary policy meeting to decide on interest rates.

South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.1% to 6,856.35. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose nearly 0.1% to 8,738.50. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.8% to 24,766.66, while the Shanghai Composite added nearly 0.8% to 3,905.34.

Falling oil prices and easing pressure from the bond market helped Wall Street reverse many of its losses from the prior day.

The S&P 500 jumped 1.1% for just its second rise in the last nine days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 316 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.7%.

Wall Street stocks got a boost after the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil slid from the nearly $110 it reached earlier in the week on worries that the war with Iran will keep oil bottled up in the Middle East instead of going to customers worldwide.

In Asian trading, Brent, the international standard, lost 0.68% to $104.11 a barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude slid 0.54% to $101.36 a barrel.

Brent is still more expensive than the $72 per barrel that it cost earlier this summer, but the recent drop helped pull yields lower in the bond market and removed some pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.93% from 5.01% late Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised the short-term interest rate that it controls, the federal funds rate, by a quarter of a percentage point for its first hike in more than three years. Officials also signaled they may raise the federal funds rate one more time this year as they try to get high inflation in the U.S. under control.

The signals sent Wall Street on a roller coaster. Stocks initially remained higher for the day after the Fed made its announcement Wednesday. They then slid sharply before recovering a chunk of the losses before trading ended.

On the upside for markets, the shift to higher interest rates built confidence that the Fed is committed to getting inflation back to its target of 2%. On the downside for markets, higher rates undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 85.95 points to 7,637.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 316.14 to 51,778.04, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 439.87 to 26,418.30.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 156.15 Japanese yen from 155.95 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1480.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)