Jonah Heim homers twice and rookie Jack Leiter gets 1st career win as Rangers beat Red Sox 4-1
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jonah Heim hit two solo homers and rookie Jack Leiter allowed one run over five innings for his first big league win as the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Friday night.
Heim’s second homer was a 417-foot drive to right-center that put Texas up 2-1 in the fifth, after Leiter (1-0) had thrown the last of his 82 pitches. Heim led off the third pulling a pitch just over the right field wall against All-Star Tanner Houck (0-1), who gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Leiter struck out four with one walk while allowing five singles. The second overall pick in 2021 amateur draft, and the son of former big leaguer Al, made his big league debut last season going 0-3 with an 8.83 ERA in nine games (six starts).
Luke Jackson, the fifth Texas reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his first save.
Wilyer Abreu’s RBI single was the third consecutive Red Sox hit in the fourth. That tied the game at 1 before Connor Wong grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Boston also had two on in the second when Wyatt Langford made a running and lunging catch of Wong’s liner to deep left field.
Key moment
Boston had the bases loaded in the seventh when Rafael Devers struck out, then third baseman Josh Jung made a backhanded stop on Alex Bregman’s chopper and a strong throw to get him for the final out. Jung then exited with neck stiffness.
Key stat
Devers, now solely the Boston DH after the offseason addition of third baseman Bregman, struck out in all four at-bats. He is 0 for 7 with six Ks this season.
Up next
Two-time All-Star right-hander Walker Buehler makes his Red Sox debut on Saturday night, after going 47-22 for the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2017. Tyler Mahle goes for Texas after three starts last August in his comeback from Tommy John surgery.
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