Red Sox Notes: Rob Refsnyder Rewards Team’s ‘Confidence’ Vs. Rangers

The Boston Red Sox are accustomed to leaning on everyone in their clubhouse, and that remained the case during Saturday night’s 7-4 loss to the Texas Rangers.

It didn’t too long before Boston jumped ahead of Texas as outfielder Rob Refsnyder took Rangers starting pitcher Cody Bradford yard with a solo home run to open the scoring in the second at-bat of the game. Refsnyder pulled a déjà vu on Bradford in the fourth inning by going deep for the second time in as many at-bats, pushing across two runs to give the Red Sox a quick 3-0 advantage.

“Outstanding. He’s been great for us,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “The quality of the at-bats. I know a lot of people only see him as a platoon guy, right? One that faces lefties. We have the confidence that he’s a guy that when (opponents) bring a righty, there’s some good matchups too. Two good swings early on, the double, the last at-bat just grinding. It was a great night for him.”

Although the Rangers mustered up a game-deciding rally in the bottom half of the fourth inning — shortly after Refsnyder’s second homer landed at Globe Life Field — the 33-year-old didn’t stop doing damage in the batter’s box. Refsnyder finished 4-for-4 amid his first-career multi-home run performance, adding a double and a walk to the night. That also marked the first time Refsnyder reached base five times in an MLB contest, and most importantly, filled the void of Tyler O’Neill’s absence (illness).

Refsnyder didn’t speak with reporters in Boston’s locker room after the loss, also due to illness, per NESN’s Adam Pellerin.

Boston’s loss dragged the Red Sox down 6 1/2 games back of the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles for the top spot in the American League East and 2 1/2 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the third and final AL wild-card spot.

Here are more notes from Saturday night’s Red Sox-Rangers game:

— Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck struggled after tossing three scoreless innings to begin the night. Houck surrendered back-to-back home runs against the Rangers in the fourth and finished charged with six earned runs through five-plus innings on the mound.

“Fourth inning just two pitches (that) missed toward the middle of the zone, and two good swings,” Houck told reporters after falling to 8-8 this season, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.

— Typically behind the plate, Red Sox catcher Connor Wong made his first career big league start at first base, and left an impression.

“His jumps are great, too, at first base,” Cora said. “He moves at first base. There’s no panic. He seems like he’s in control. … He did an amazing job. Great job there and like I said before, he’s played there in the 10th inning of tied games so he knows what he’s doing. He’s a great athlete.”

— Red Sox pitchers have surrendered six home runs in two nights against the Rangers.

— Boston is now 5-9 following the All-Star break. The Red Sox will play their third consecutive rubber match to end a series, in search of their second series win since the Midsummer Classic.

— The Red Sox will wrap up their three-game series in Texas on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Globe Life Field is set for 2:35 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.