Encarnacion, Betts each hit three homers

BC-BBA-Red Sox-Rangers, 1st Ld-Writethru, 841 Kimbrel quickest to 300 saves as Red Sox rally 6-5 at TexasAP Photo ARL112, ARL114, ARL116, ARL113, ARL105, ARL106, ARL108, ARL115, ARL103, ARL102, ARL104, ARL101Eds: Red Sox 6, Rangers 5. That series will continue Saturday night at 8:05 p.m. ET.

Vegas is listing Boston (-180) as the favorite over Texas (+170). “For him to do it in that game, it’s kind of appropriate”.

Rangers starter Matt Moore (1-4) allowed a career-high 10 runs in four innings, including three homers.

He beguiled the Red Sox with a series of tantalizing 88 miles per hour two-seam fastballs and changeups, but he made four mistakes, and all of them left the park.

BOSTON – Mookie Betts heard the name Ted Williams, and that was enough for him. Texas improves to 13-20 on the season. They’ve lost 1.9 units for bettors taking the moneyline and 10.1 units ATS. The fireballer struck out Joey Gallo and Jurickson Profar with the bases loaded to get out of the late jam and help spur the Red Sox’ comeback. The Bruins were sloppy and sluggish out the gate yesterday, committing turnovers in their own end that led to two quick goals by Tampa’s Ondrej Palat in just the first four minutes of the game. In his past four starts, Hamels has lowered season ERA from 5.06 to 4.08.

As good as Martinez has been in his role as one of Boston’s sluggers, he has been just as good in the field, which has been a bonus for a Red Sox squad that has needed him at times because of injuries and interleague play.

“You’ve got to give it to Moore for hanging in there and throwing as many pitches as he did in a short period of time, knowing that we were a little short in the bullpen today”, Banister said. The club has destroyed major league pitching this month.

Rodriguez started out the year very well but faltered a bit in his last outing with five earned on five hits in 4.0 innings.

Upstart Atlanta (18-11) overtook the Mets for first place in the NL East behind seven innings of two-hit ball from Newcomb (2-1).

Nomar Mazara and Shin-soo Choo have led the Rangers’ offense so far.

The St. Louis right-hander took his time as he circled the bases after hitting his first major league home run in the Cardinals’ 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.

Encarnacion hit a three-homer in the first, a two-run shot in the second and a solo drive in the eighth.

And when you look at Betts, you don’t see the big hulking frame of an Albert Pujols or even his teammate J.D. Martinez, who also went deep at Fenway yesterday with a two-run blast, his sixth of the year.

Red Sox: Cora said lefty Eduardo Rodriguez “most likely” will be back to make his scheduled start Saturday. He was hit on the right forearm by a pitch in the series opener. If he gets hit, he gets hit.

The Boston defense has allowed eight errors over its last five games, compared to five errors for Texas over its last five. Betts belted three home runs while leading off for the Red Sox in Wednesday’s 5-4 win over Kansas City, becoming the youngest player in history with four three-homer games.