Hip Hip Jose! Rangers Outlast Red Sox in 4-1 Win

The Texas Rangers played a solid all-around game to defeat the hot Boston Red Sox in the first of four games in Arlington.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers bounced back after losing two of three games against the Los Angeles Angels with a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Rangers catcher Jose Trevino broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that landed in the Red Sox bullpen. Isiah Kiner-Falefa added some insurance with a hard-hit solo home run to straight-away center field to give the Rangers a three-run lead.

"It feels good, [especially] against a team who's been playing well," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "They're the best offense in baseball. For Gibby, our ace, to go out there and pitch really well and execute, he shut them down."

Rangers starter Kyle Gibson faced off with former Texas southpaw Martín Pérez, with each pitcher keeping their respective teams in the game with solid outings. Both hurlers only surrendered one earned run each, but Gibson outlasted Pérez by 1/3 inning. Hirokazu Sawamura relieved Pérez with two outs in the sixth, but Trevino immediately greeted him with the two-run blast.

Gibson's ERA after his Opening Day 1/3-inning debacle was 135.00. Over the next five starts, he's lowered it to 2.16. Since April 2, he owns a stunning 0.82 ERA, which is fifth in Major League Baseball over that time period.

"We're not really shocked at all," said Woodward. "This is what we were expecting. I'm not surprised. I was really shocked by the Opening Day [start]. But I'm not surprised by this right now."

John King, Joely Rodríguez, and Ian Kennedy pitched three near-perfect innings in relief of Gibson. The only blemish was a catcher's interference with two outs in the eighth inning, but Rodríguez immediately retired the final hitter of the inning.

The Rangers (11-15) look to build off the win in game two of the four-game series with the Red Sox (16-10) on Friday night. Kohei Arihara (2-2, 4.03 ERA) will take the ball for Texas, and square off with Boston right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (3-2, 3.77 ERA).

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Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for SI's InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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