It was another crazy night in this crazy Red Sox season

Nothing has been easy. Nothing has been expected. Nothing has certainly been boring.

Case in point: Thursday night in Texas.

The sight alone of the Red Sox's manager, Chad Tracy, walking out of the premises in Arlington wearing a costume depicting Woody from Toy Story would have been evidence enough of the out-of-the-ordinary environment for these 2026 Red Sox is powering straight through until the start of the postseason. But there was more. So much more.

The good: Trevor Story hitting the game-winning, three-run homer in the eighth inning to help the Red Sox avoid a series sweep at the hands of the Rangers with their 4-3 win at Globe Life Field.

The homer was Story's first since May 13 and served as a reminder of the shortstop's importance. Since his return from the injured list on Aug. 30, he has hit .349 with an .867 OPS.

“He's been great,” Tracy told reporters. “He's got a hit in every game but one. That was a hell of an at-bat against a really good pitcher in a really big spot and a huge swing. Obviously needed a win, but all the credit to him. ... You’re one pitch away in a spot like that, where he can change a game, like we saw it numerous times in the second half of last year. So, like I said, it was a massive swing.”

"It's tough because I'm not really motivated by outside noise or anything. But you know, you hear it, and I try to to use it in a way that fits me best,” Story told reporteres. “Like we said, that was the point of getting the surgery, to come back and try to be the player that I know I can be, and I'm starting to show that.”

The bad: This was surfaced just prior to Story's home run, when Willson Contreras was hit in the right hand by a Jakob Junis 92.3 mph sinker. After initially going to first, Contreras exited the game for pinch-runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa. And while the X-rays were determined to be negative, there was still some lingering frustration and concern from both Contreras and his manager after the game.

“[It’s feeling] sore, painful,” Contreras told reporteres. “My hand was numb for like, I'll say five minutes. That was the reason why I came out of the game. I had fractures before in the same hand. It felt like a fracture. Thankfully, it was not a fracture on the top of the bone. … I don’t know, I'm just frustrated."

Added Contreras (who has now been hit 24 times, the third-most of any player in MLB), "“[Junis] apologized to me. I mean, that was nice of him. He was trying to pitch inside like everybody else. A lot of people might say that I hit on top of the plate, but I'm seeing a lot of players [that] hit on top of the plate. They don't get hit like me. ... It's really frustrating because I just came back from [the IL], and this might take days. I mean, sore bones in hands might take two days, might take a week, might take 10 days. I don't know. We'll see how I feel after taking this plane to Tampa."

When it came to injury concerns, the Red Sox had more than just Contreras. Garrett Whitlock was forced to close out the win for his fourth wave after Aroldis Chapman was deemed unavailable due to lat tightness.

Where it left the Red Sox was a whole lot more uncertainty than they had hoped for while boarding the flight from Dallas to Tampa.

Their magic number sits at three games, without the opportunity to knock it to more than two (with a win in the series opener against the Rays Friday) because the two teams vying to catch Cleveland for the third wild card spot - Texas and Toronto - play each other. The trio of Wilyer Abreu, Adley Rutschman and Roman Anthony went a combined 3-for-35 in the three-game series against the Rangers. And, now, you have the uncertainty surrounding two of your most important players, Contreras and Chapman.

And, to top it off, the Red Sox are heading into face a team in the Rays who have won six straight, sit comfortably atop the American League East, and have won more games than any team in baseball since Aug. 1.

For better or worse, the Red Sox manage to possess one constant throughout this roller coaster of a season: Expect the unexpected.