The Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 4–3 on Thursday, 17 September, at Globe Life Field, and the Houston Astros reclaimed sole possession of the American League West, ESPN, Associated Press (via CBS Sports), and Reuters (Field Level Media) reported. Trevor Story’s three-run homer off closer Jacob Latz (3-3) in the eighth erased a 3–1 deficit and ended Texas’s four-game win streak. Rangers fell to 76–77, one game behind Houston (77–76), which beat Kansas City 6–2 earlier Thursday behind five homers including Yordan Alvarez’s 40th. Texas had tied the Astros atop the AL West on Wednesday; Houston owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, those accounts said.
Story, from nearby Irving, reached down for Latz’s second straight low curveball and drove it over the left-field wall for his fourth home run this season after Wilyer Abreu walked and Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch from Jakob Junis to open the eighth, AP/CBS and ESPN reported. Isiah Kiner-Falefa ran for Contreras; Latz had struck out Adley Rutschman before Story’s swing. Wyatt Olds (2-0) got three outs for the win; Garrett Whitlock pitched the ninth for his fourth save in eight chances, getting Jake Burger to ground into a game-ending double play. Josh Jung hit a first-inning homer off Sonny Gray, and Texas opened a 3–0 lead in the second on Danny Jansen’s RBI single and Evan Carter’s safety squeeze. Roman Anthony’s run-scoring forceout in the seventh cut it to 3–1. Gray allowed three hits in 6⅓ innings on a season-high 102 pitches; Cody Bradford followed a one-inning opener with 4⅓ shutout innings seeking his first major-league win since 18 September 2024 after missing last season following elbow surgery, AP said.
Boston (83–70) has a five-game lead for the top AL wild card and improved to 8–59 when trailing after seven innings; Texas dropped to 63–2 when leading after seven on the ESPN/AP card. Attendance was 30,828 on the ESPN game page. The Rangers trail by two games for the last AL wild card on that same frame.
Houston’s five-homer night at Daikin Park included Jeremy Peña’s leadoff shot on the first pitch from Seth Lugo — Peña’s sixth leadoff homer this season — plus solo homers from Daulton Varsho, Lamonte Wade Jr., Alvarez (40th), and Taylor Trammell on the ESPN and Reuters FLM frames, a season high for the Astros. Wade and Alvarez went back-to-back in a three-pitch span in the fifth. Peña reached 20 homers for the first time since his 2022 rookie season and added an RBI single in the sixth, ESPN said. Alvarez sits one behind Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero for the AL lead on that card. Houston (77–76) began the night tied with Texas, moved back over .500, and left Texas one game back after the Rangers’ loss. Attendance was 34,853 at Daikin Park.
Named actors locked to the wires: Story (three-run HR, eighth, fourth of season); Latz (3-3 L); Olds (2-0 W); Whitlock (fourth save); Jung (HR); Gray (6⅓ IP); Alvarez (40th HR); Peña, Varsho, Wade, Trammell; Abreu, Contreras/Kiner-Falefa, Anthony, Jansen, Carter, Bradford, Burger, Rutschman, Lugo. Soft recorded without choosing: the short advances Wednesday’s Rangers–Astros tie tip; Houston’s published H2H tiebreaker is stated as on the wires. Boston’s wild-card cushion is secondary to the AL West race frame and is printed only as published.
The checkable record is Red Sox 4–3 Rangers at Globe Life, Story’s eighth-inning three-run shot, TEX 76–77 and HOU 77–76 sole AL West, Astros’ 6–2 over Kansas City with five homers including Alvarez’s 40th, and the reverse of Wednesday’s first-place tie.
What comes next is checkable: published AL West standings with Houston 77–76 alone and Texas 76–77; Friday’s Rangers–Blue Jays box with Kumar Rocker listed for Texas on the AP line; Red Sox at Tampa Bay with Ranger Suárez listed for Boston; Astros’ next published starter and schedule as on the wires.
Floor: Red Sox 4–3 Rangers at Globe Life; Story 3-run HR 8th off Latz; TEX 76–77, HOU 77–76 sole AL West (HOU H2H TB); Astros 6–2 Royals, five HRs incl. Alvarez 40th; reverses Wed TEX–HOU tie.