G39: Red Sox 4, Rangers 3

Rangers - 000 002 001 - 3  9  0
Red Sox - 100 120 00x - 4 13  1

Wade Miley (7-7-2-1-7, 105) tossed seven solid innings and David Ortiz and Mike Napoli each homered and drove in two runs.

The Red Sox hit Gallardo (5-10-4-0-2, 102) hard right away. With one out, Dustin Pedroia doubled off the base of the Wall; after four pitches away resulted in a 2-2 count, Gallardo mistakenly came inside on FY and he nailed the first of two doubles. Ortiz followed with a hard grounder into right for an RBI single. Hanley Ramirez (3-for-5) and Pablo Sandoval each singled and Boston had the bases loaded with one out. Unfortunately, Napoli struck out and Daniel Nava grounded out to short.

Boston increased their lead in the middle inning. Napoli began the fourth with a line drive home run to left. Ortiz cracked a one-out dong to right-center in the sixth before Ramirez doubled and scored on Napoli's single. The Red Sox led 4-0.

Although Miley dealt with runners in five of his seven innings - Texas got a man to second in each of the first four innings - his only real trouble came in the sixth, when Kyle Blanks doubled with one out and scored on Thomas Field's two-out single. Hanley Ramirez fielded the ball in left and seemed surprised to see Blanks rounding third; his throw to the plate was, therefore, too late. Robinson Chirinos then lifted a fly ball out near the short wall in the right field corner. Nava couldn't catch it and Chirinos legged out a run-scoring triple.

The Red Sox tried grabbing some insurance in the seventh and eighth, but did nothing more than leave five men on base. In the seventh, facing lefty Sam Freeman, Ramirez doubled and Sandoval was drilled in the left knee with a pitch (he had to leave the game). Shane Victorino walked against Neftali Feliz to load the bases, but Bogaerts grounded back to the mound. In the eighth, Pedroia doubled high off the Wall and Ortiz was intentionally walked, but Ramirez hit into an inning-ending fielder's choice.

Leonys Martin, pinch-hitting in the top of the ninth, homered off Koji Uehara to cut the lead to 4-3. After Koji got the next two hitters, Shin-Soo Choo reached on an infield single. Elvis Andrus flied to right and the win was secured.

In Washington, Andrew Miller gave up a two-run homer to Ryan Zimmerman in the bottom of the tenth, so the Red Sox gained a game on the Yankees (losers of six of their last seven games and now tied with the Rays for first place). Boston is now 2.5 GB, in third.

Yovani Gallardo / Wade Miller

Betts, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Swihart, C

Nineteen-year-old Yoan Moncada made his professional debut last night, playing for the Greenville Drive. He went 0-for-3: grounding out twice, reaching on an error, walking, and scoring two runs.