The Sox have fed off its young players and their willingness to take risks, burning up the base paths to make plays.
“To get in the postseason, you can’t be scared to make mistakes,” Refsnyder said.
The fallout from Duran’s comments made Monday a long day for the Sox. Going extra innings in their series opener against the Rangers made it even longer.
But a 5-4 walk-off win, thanks to an RBI single to the gap in left-center by Refsnyder, felt like a much-needed reset.
“It was a great team effort,” Refsnyder said. “We’re pretty banged up right now … It was a really good team win and we really needed it. We had that tough little stretch right there, so it was big.”
The Sox snapped a four-game losing streak with their seventh extra-inning win of the season (third at home). It was their fifth walk-off of the season.
Refsnyder, who considers himself a brotherly figure to Duran, said his support would always be there.
“At the end of the day, we all love him,” Refsnyder said. “We’re here to support him and whatever he needs from us, we’ll be there for him.
With Duran out of the lineup, the Sox had to get contributions from every crevice of the lineup. Starter Brayan Bello went six innings, giving up one run on four hits, striking out five and walking three.
For his part, Refsnyder went 2 for 5 with a walk. With two outs, the bases loaded, and the score knotted at 4 in the 10th, he waited for a 2-and-0 cutter from Rangers rookie reliever Walter Pennington and pounced when he got it. It was the second walk-off RBI of his career.
“I was just guessing he was going to come in there with the cutter,” Refsnyder said.
The Sox had to come from behind to get to that point. Josh Smith plated the go-ahead run for the Rangers in the top of the 10th with a groundout to second after Corey Seager moved the ghost runner, Marcus Semien, to third with another grounder to second.
But Enmanuel Valdez kept the Sox alive in the bottom of the inning with a pinch-hit ground-rule double to the Triangle in center that scored Romy Gonzalez to even the score at 3. Valdez is 4 for 7 with two doubles and four RBIs as a pinch hitter this season.
“It feels good to be able to help the team,” Valdez said through an interpreter. “Whatever roles I can help the team, I’m more than happy to do. If it’s from the bench or starting, it doesn’t really matter.”
Nick Sogard went 2 for 4, going for multiple hits for the third time in his first nine career games. He broke the ice for the Sox in the fourth by shooting a one-out, bases-loaded sacrifice fly to right field that plated Connor Wong and gave the Sox a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers got the run back in the fifth. With one out and Leody Taveras on second, Semien laced a 3-and-1 sinker to center for an RBI single.
Rangers starter Tyler Mahle lasted just 4⅔ innings, giving up two runs on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. He handed the ball over to Andrew Chafin in the fifth inning with two outs and one on, and things went slightly haywire.
Chafin faced four batters and walked all of them (two intentionally). He became just the 22nd reliever in baseball history to face four batters and walk all four without recording an out. He walked in a pair of runs that allowed the Sox to take a 3-1 lead.
“Felt like that fifth inning was a big moment there,” said Sox manager Alex Cora.
The Rangers offense got Chafin off the hook in the seventh. Seager tagged Sox reliever Bailey Horn for a two-run homer to tie it back up at 3-3. Since the All-Star break, lefties have a .321/.353/.696 slash line with 5 HRs and 10 extra-base hits against Sox lefthanded relievers.
But the Sox were able to rally in extras and, after a difficult day, the win felt like a relief.
“It was fun to watch man,” Cora said. “We’re playing with kids trying to make it to the playoffs. You look around like, wow, this is really happening.”
Julian Benbow can be reached at julian.benbow@globe.com.
