Adolis (2 HRs), clutch blasts pave way for much-needed win

BOSTON -- Starting pitcher Dane Dunning stood in front of his locker in the Rangers’ visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park and joked with the group of reporters surrounding him.

“Honestly that guy, that guy and that guy over there is who you need to be talking to,” Dunning said. “Pretty much our entire position player group is who you need to be talking to, because they bailed us out of a lot of trouble. I put them in a lot of trouble to start with, and they bailed me out. As the game went on, they did wonders. They were awesome today.”

Dunning and reliever David Robertson gave up a combined seven runs in 5 2/3 innings on Wednesday night, but on the other end of the field, the Rangers hit four total home runs against the Red Sox, with two coming from Adolis García and one each from Wyatt Langford and Jonah Heim.

Each one felt bigger and more important than the one before it.

After a back-and-forth affair at Fenway Park, with the Rangers looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox, it was Heim, who came in as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, that dealt the biggest homer of the night -- a leadoff, two-run shot in the 10th inning that propelled Texas to a 9-7 win over Boston.

Heim, who was an All-Star in 2023, has begun splitting time behind the plate with the recently acquired Carson Kelly as Heim struggled to .229 average with a .619 OPS this season entering the day. The home run in this situation could not have come at a better time.

“It's a big momentum build for this team,” Heim said. “Obviously, I don't want to talk for a lot of the guys, but for me, personally, it's obviously not been the year I've wanted to have. So just [to] put together a couple good at-bats in a row is a really big confidence boost, and it's something to build off of. I’m excited to see how we bounce from this, and perform tomorrow.”

Langford's game-tying three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning set Heim up perfectly for the go-ahead shot. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the only other rookie in Rangers history to hit a game-tying two-out home run in the ninth or later was Ruben Sierra on June 6, 1986 against the Mariners.

It was a bit of redemption for the rookie outfielder, who airmailed a throw home in the bottom of the eighth inning.

“I'm sure Wyatt was a little upset at himself for that throw,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Normally, he's on the money there and he airmailed it. But you know what? He got a chance to make up for that, and he did. It's hard to have a bigger home run than that.”

García didn’t have the game-winner -- that was obviously Heim -- nor the game-tying homer -- that was Langford -- but his two-homer day may have been the biggest development for the Rangers as a whole.

It was his eighth career multi-homer game as he recorded his fourth consecutive 20-homer season.

“He was phenomenal,” Dunning said of García. “It sucks for Adolis because of the fact that you have two homers that happen in crucial points that get overlooked. Adolis’ at-bats [are] what got us going. Without those homers, without his performance today, a lot of the stuff after doesn't happen. Him putting those swings just helps the rest of the line. It's really big, just from the get-go with Adolis.”

García was named the Rangers Player of the Month for March and April after batting .292/.347/.585 over the first 29 games of the 2024 season. In 75 games afterwards, from May-July, he hit just .179 with a .561 OPS as the Rangers plummeted down the standings.

In August, García has looked more like the best version of himself, hitting .341/.426/.537 in 11 games following Wednesday’s win over Boston.

“It's always good to see Doli swing like that,” Bochy said. “He got hit by a pitch and it ticked him off a little bit. He came back out with a vengeance, didn't he? We know what he can do when he's swinging well and that's the game he had tonight. That's something we need. I was glad to see him on time. He just looked good up there tonight.”

The offensive outburst is one of the best things that could’ve happened to the Rangers as they capped off a six-game East Coast trip that has not been easy (2-4 vs. the Yankees and Red Sox).

Not much has gone right for the Rangers this year in general. There’s been a lot of frustration from the players, who expect much more from themselves. But the consensus in the clubhouse is that there is still a lot of baseball left. They hope this win can spark a run.

“We needed this win in the worst way,” Bochy said.