Wilyer Abreu homers twice as Red Sox beat Rangers to clinch series

Wilyer Abreu’s grandmother had been in declining health for several weeks, but as far as he and the club knew things had taken a turn for the better.

Then came the call late Saturday night that she’d passed, leading to one of the most emotional and memorable days of the young outfielder’s career.

“I was playing for her,” Abreu said via translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “I dedicate this game to her and I was playing with my heart in my hands.”

With a heavy heart Abreu delivered his first career multi-homer game, going deep twice to help lead the Red Sox to a 7-2 win over the Texas Rangers. He first tied the game with a solo home run in the top of the fourth before coming through with a three-run shot in the sixth that effectively put the game away.

In the process he helped the Red Sox clinch their second consecutive series victory after dropping three straight out of the All-Star break.

“Today was a very important day,” Abreu said. “Obviously to be able to go out there and perform in this situation was great for me and great for the team, but at the same time, obviously happy for the game but sad for what just happened.”

Early on it looked as if Sunday might bring more of the same for a Red Sox pitching staff that has struggled to keep the ball in the park over the past two weeks.

Corey Seager ambushed Nick Pivetta and hit his second pitch of the game 380 feet into the outfield stands for his third home run of the series. Then in the bottom of the second Josh Jung followed with a solo shot of his own to make it 2-0.

That gave the Rangers eight homers in three games, and the Red Sox have now allowed 33 home runs in 15 games since the All-Star break, the most in MLB over that span.

While the Rangers brought the power, the Red Sox answered with speed, which has been their calling card all season long. Boston cut into the deficit in the third when David Hamilton singled and scored easily from first base on Jarren Duran’s subsequent RBI double.

Then the Red Sox started bringing a little thunder of their own. Abreu took Nathan Eovaldi deep for a solo shot to tie the game in the fourth, and in the fifth Duran gave Boston the lead with a solo homer to make it 3-2.

Outside of the early home runs Pivetta was solid, but with his club now in the midst of a fierce playoff race, Red Sox manager Alex Cora opted to move aggressively with his pitching staff. He pulled Pivetta after just 4 2/3 innings and 70 pitches in favor of a lefty on lefty matchup, despite the fact there was nobody on and Pivetta had retired six straight batters.

Pivetta ultimately only allowed two hits (the solo home runs) and one walk while striking out five, though Cora noted his stuff wasn’t as good as usual, with a fastball averaging only 92 mph.

“We went to the bullpen because the stuff today was short, and the bullpen did an outstanding job,” Cora said. “In the words of the great Tito Francona, it wasn’t coming out clean, but he used his breaking ball, he competed and he gave us a chance to win.”

The quick hook paid off, as Cam Booser drew a flyout from left-hander Josh Smith to end the fifth inning, and after that the offense chased Eovaldi from the game. Rafael Devers singled and Connor Wong doubled to lead off the inning, forcing Rangers manager Bruce Bochy to go to his bullpen, and Abreu immediately greeted Walter Pennington with a three-run home run, his first career homer off a left-handed pitcher.

Abreu was visibly overcome with emotion after each of his home runs, and Cora said it never crossed his mind to pinch hit for the outfielder even in a situation where going with a righty might have made sense.

“I’ll tell you right now, I let him hit because I was like something good is going to happen against this lefty,” Cora said. “It just happens. That’s life, right? We’re believers and we’re not perfect and we try to live the good life and I think the lord rewarded him on that one.”

“We were absolutely fired up, we’re all here for him and we got his back,” Duran said of Abreu. “We all love him and we’re going to support him as much as we can, but to see him do that it’s an awesome thing and we’re so proud of him.”

Eovaldi finished with five runs allowed on seven hits, a walk and seven strikeouts over five-plus innings. The walk he allowed in the first inning to Masataka Yoshida was the first he’d conceded since June 26.

For Abreu, Sunday’s big showing continued an encouraging return to his strong first-half form. After going on the IL for several weeks in June following a freak accident where he fell down the dugout stairs, Abreu batted .184 with no home runs, three extra-base hits, one walk and 17 strikeouts over his first 12 games back. But over his last 19 games since he’s hit .345 with six home runs, 20 RBI, 13 extra-base hits, five walks and 16 strikeouts.

Sunday was also an encouraging day for Duran, who appeared to be dealing with an issue with his side on Saturday night. Not only was he back in the lineup again on Sunday, but he went 3 for 4 with his 14th home run of the season. He also stole two bases, giving him a new career-high 26 on the season.

Hamilton tacked on a solo home run in the eighth and tallied two stolen bases, bringing him to 28 on the year. The native Texan went 2 for 3 with a walk, the home run and two runs scored in his best game since the start of the second half.

As for the pitching staff, the Red Sox collectively only allowed three hits, including just one after the two early solo home runs. Booser finished with 1 1/3 perfect innings, Zack Kelly threw a scoreless seventh, Brennan Bernardino struck out three straight batters in the eighth and Josh Winckowski wrapped things up with a perfect ninth.

The Red Sox have now won four of their last six after starting the second half 2-7 out of the break. The club remains 2 1/2 games back of the last AL wild-card spot, however, after Kansas City won on Sunday as well.

The good news is Boston won’t have to wait long for a chance to deal with its top playoff competitor, as the club now opens a three-game series against the Royals starting Monday. James Paxton is scheduled to face Brady Singer in the opener, Brayan Bello will face Seth Lugo on Tuesday and Kutter Crawford will take on Cole Ragans in Wednesday’s finale.

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