Rangers beat Red Sox 4-2, gain wild-card ground

Elias Díaz hit a two-run double into the left-field corner with two outs in the second. The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Tuesday in a matchup of American League playoff contenders. Jacob deGrom struck out eight over five innings on 92 pitches, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk. Texas scored four runs in the second on Díaz's double and a two-run hit by Corey Seager after Patrick Sandoval walked two. Nick Sogard's two-run homer in the third, his fifth of the season, cut it to 4-2. Boston loaded the bases without a hit in the fifth on a hit-by-pitch, catcher's interference and a walk before Adley Rutschman's groundout, then left them loaded again in the eighth, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Jacob Latz recorded five outs for his 30th save in 33 chances, striking out Andruw Monasterio with the bases loaded to end the eighth. The win left Texas one game behind Houston in the AL West and within 1 1/2 games of the final wild-card spot. What is contested: Accounts differ on Seager's hit. Some call it a two-run single; others describe a high popup that tipped off Trevor Story's glove in short left. One account says Sandoval was pulled with two outs in the third; another says after 2 2/3 innings.