With his 200th career homer, Alex Bregman helps Red Sox snap losing skid

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BOSTON — Alex Bregman had already homered and doubled by the time he came to the plate in the seventh with two on and two outs in a tie game against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night. The 31-year-old entered the game hitting .315 with a .973 OPS, off to the strongest start of his 10-year career. And yet, the Rangers chose to pitch to him.

Bregman responded by lining a 1-0 changeup to left field, giving the Red Sox the lead in an eventual 6-4 win on a night where they desperately needed a victory.

The Red Sox came into the game having lost five of their six previous games, and Wednesday’s contest with all its twists and turns could prove to be a jumping off point for a team that’s been mired in mediocrity over the first five weeks of the season.

“I think we just needed to stop the bleeding, to be honest with you,” Bregman said. “Obviously, it’s still super early in the season, but a lot of us haven’t played together. It’s our first time playing together. So I feel like we’re figuring out our identity. We’re figuring out what it takes to win baseball games at this level.

“There’s a certain preparation,” he added. “There’s a certain execution that needs to be there and not only needs to be there, but should be expected. And I feel like when you prepare at a high level, it gives you a chance to execute in the game, and I felt like we did a good job of stopping the bleeding today. And, now it’s time to win some baseball games.”

It was a pointed statement from a veteran player clearly trying to jolt his team and use this win as a catalyst.

Bregman did his part early in the game, too. Facing a 2-0 deficit in the fourth against Rangers starter Tyler Mahle, who owned a 1.19 ERA entering the day, Bregman clobbered a solo homer over the wall in left. It was the first homer Mahle had given up this season and was the 200th of Bregman’s career. He’s one of 34 active players with as many as 200 homers.

“I’m just thankful to still be playing this game and hope to play it for another 10 years,” Bregman said of the achievement. “It’s cool. I’m just glad to help the team win, to be honest.”

Two batters later, Wilyer Abreu tied the score 2-2 with his own solo homer that flew 422 feet, coming off the bat at 106.9 mph, to keep the momentum going.

Wilyer’s ball is way out of here 💣

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— Red Sox (@redsox.com) May 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM

The Red Sox faced an early deficit thanks in part to a strange play in the top of the third inning.

Tanner Houck issued a leadoff walk to Jonah Heim and a double to Josh Jung before getting Josh Smith to strike out. But then Wyatt Langford hit a soft grounder to the right of the mound, Houck rushed his throw, pulling first baseman Romy Gonzalez off the bag and into the first-base line. Langford nearly tripped over Gonzalez and missed the bag. Gonzalez gathered the ball and tagged the bag, but Langford was deemed safe. The Red Sox challenged but the call stood.

According to the ruling, because the runner was past the bag, it was no longer considered a force out and Gonzalez needed to tag the runner for the out instead.

“Romy needs to get the ball and tag,” Cora explained. “(Video review man Mike Brenley) called. He was hesitant to give us a yes or no (on whether to appeal). At the end, he said yes. And they explained it to us afterwards (why it was upheld).”

It was a key play, as a Corey Seager ground out scored Heim from third for a 1-0 lead. Houck reloaded the bases on a walk to Joc Pederson but then got Marcus Semien to ground out to escape without further damage.

Adolis García made it 2-0 in the top of the fourth with a homer just inside the foul pole in left.

The Red Sox, showing more fight than they have in recent games, tied it in the bottom half of the fourth inning on the Bregman and Abreu homers, but the Rangers added a third run off Houck in the fifth.

After Seager hit a comebacker to the mound that glanced off Houck’s arm — delaying the game for a few minutes as trainers checked on him — to start the fifth, Joc Pederson hit a ground-rule double to put runners on second and third. Two batters later, a García sacrifice fly scored the go-ahead run. Cora then turned to reliever Justin Wilson, who had retired 12 of the last 13 lefties he’d faced. He got lefty Evan Carter to ground out to end the inning.

With the Red Sox down 3-2 in the sixth, Bregman doubled to lead off the inning, his MLB-best 15th double of the season. Kristian Campbell added a single to move Bregman to third, and Abreu came to the plate with a lefty on the mound. Unlike last year when Cora would have pinch-hit for Abreu with Rob Refsnyder, he kept Abreu in and the outfielder rewarded his manager, smoking a deep fly ball to center that scored Bregman to tie the game.

“Not a thought,” Cora said of pinch-hitting for Abreu. “It’s the sixth inning and Wily is one of our best hitters. He’s earning the right to face tough lefties.”

“It’s very important for me,” Abreu said through a translator. “I feel like the key is the confidence and Alex has given me the confidence to be able to hit against lefties and obviously from last year to this year I feel like I’ve improved a lot.”

Campbell nearly scored on Abreu’s double, as well, but he was called out at home after a head-first slide. The Red Sox had lost their challenge earlier in the game so couldn’t argue the call, but it appeared Campbell may have been safe.

Two batters later, after Abreu had advanced to third, another wild play occurred. Gonzalez hit a grounder that appeared to score Abreu but as Gonzalez approached first base he collided with Smith at first base. Gonzalez went down hard, but after several minutes got up and started walking around. In the meantime, the Rangers challenged the play and Gonzalez was called out, ending the inning and erasing the go-ahead run that initially scored. Gonzalez tried to play first in the top of the seventh, but soon headed back to the dugout and was replaced by Abraham Toro.

After the game Cora said Gonzalez was day-to-day.

“He’s OK, just sore,” Cora said. “The way he landed, his back got tight. He’s day-to-day, should be OK.”

In so many games this season, the Red Sox offense has failed to add on late in games, but on Wednesday they weren’t done. Connor Wong led off the seventh with a key bunt single and Ceddanne Rafaela added a single to left. Rangers reliever Robert Garcia got Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers out before the Rangers inexplicably decided to pitch to Bregman with the rookie Campbell on deck. Bregman had already driven in three runs. He smashed the two-run single to left for the 5-3 lead.

“I think this is the best start of his career,” Cora said of Bregman. “I think he’s hitting the ball all over the place, which is great, letting the ball travel, and he’s playing championship-caliber baseball.” 

Bregman sends home two for the lead!

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— Red Sox (@redsox.com) May 7, 2025 at 6:08 PM

Cora turned to reliever Greg Weissert for the eighth, rather than Justin Slaten, who’s struggled of late. Weissert responded with a 1-2-3 inning.

Abreu added insurance in the eighth with another solo homer. It was the first game of his career with three extra-base hits.

Aroldis Chapman allowed a solo homer to Jung in the ninth, but also fired a 103.8 mph fastball in the inning. It was the fastest pitch thrown by anyone in the majors this season.

Shortly thereafter he closed it out for his fifth save of the season.

For how much the Red Sox have struggled of late, Wednesday had the makings of game that could propel them in the right direction.

“When I decided to sign here, I signed here to win baseball games,” Bregman said. “I feel like we have a team that can do that and win a lot of baseball games. We haven’t started the way we want. We’ve lost some games that we should have won this year. And, we need to do a better job of executing, and preparing and just getting better as a team. And, I know, we hold ourselves to a high standard and when you play in this market, everyone holds you to a high standard. We need to play like we played today and continue to compete and execute at a high level.”

(Photo: Brian Fluharty / Imagn Images)

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