Rare bullpen lapse undoes Contreras' early blast in Red Sox's loss

ARLINGTON -- Despite getting an early two-run homer from Willson Contreras and taking advantage of a handful of Rangers miscues, the Red Sox couldn’t hold off Texas in a 7-3 loss on Wednesday at Globe Life Field.

Roman Anthony opened the game with a four-pitch walk. After Jahmai Jones flied out, Wilyer Abreu grounded into a forceout but beat the relay throw to first to avoid the double play and keep the inning alive for Contreras.

That proved important.

Contreras entered the night batting .563 in his career against Gore, and helped set up his two-run homer with an early ABS challenge on a called strike that missed the bottom of the zone. After the call was overturned, Contreras took advantage when Gore left an 87 mph slider over the middle of the plate, sending it out to left-center field for his 27th homer of the season and an early 2-0 Red Sox lead.

Texas eventually erased that advantage, pulling even at 2 in the fourth, but the Rangers helped Boston regain the lead an inning later.

Caleb Durbin drew Boston’s third walk of the night against Gore to begin the fifth. Trevor Story then sent a liner toward third baseman Josh Jung, who was unable to make a play. Durbin immediately recognized the opportunity, rounding second and advancing to third as Jung was slow to get the ball back into the infield.

The sequence ended Gore’s night and brought right-hander Jakob Junis out of the Rangers' bullpen. As Junis came set to face pinch-hitter Mickey Gasper, the ball slipped out of his glove for a balk, allowing Durbin to score and put the Red Sox back in front.

But the lead was short-lived, as Texas answered in the bottom half of the fifth to tie the game again.

Red Sox starter Jake Bennett had to work from the get-go, needing 26 pitches to get through the first inning, allowing two doubles and a single but limiting the Rangers to just one run before giving up another run in the fourth.

Once Bennett’s night was over, Boston turned the game over to a bullpen that had been one of the best in baseball. Entering Wednesday, the Red Sox led the Majors with a 3.09 relief ERA and had posted a 1.45 ERA over their previous 10 games.

That’s where the game turned. Erik Miller, the second arm out of the Red Sox’s bullpen, allowed three runs on two hits in the bottom of the seventh. The Rangers added another run in the eighth off Raymond Burgos.

Despite the loss, Boston remains in the second AL Wild Card spot and maintains its 5 1/2-game cushion over the White Sox after Chicago lost to the Guardians earlier Wednesday.